Atletico Madrid’s hopes of recovering from their humiliating Champions League defeat were dashed by Luka Sucic’s stunning strike, which earned Real Sociedad a 1-1 draw in La Liga on Sunday.
Diego Simeone’s team, still reeling from their 4-0 thrashing by Benfica midweek, took an early lead in San Sebastian through Julian Alvarez. However, their advantage proved short-lived as Sucic’s long-range effort in the 84th minute secured a point for the home side.
Atletico’s draw leaves them third in the standings, level on points with Villarreal but seven behind leaders Barcelona. Real Sociedad, meanwhile, remain in 15th place.
“It’s a bad feeling because we wanted to win the game,” said Atletico defender Axel Witsel. “We let in a late goal and it hurts, we had a good game defensively… everyone was working hard. The goal we let in was a great strike but I think we could have avoided it.”
Former Manchester City striker Alvarez put Atletico ahead within the first minute after Antoine Griezmann backheeled the ball into his path. Griezmann, who recently retired from international duty with France, made his 400th appearance for the club.
Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak made a superb save to keep out Nayef Aguerd’s close-range effort and also denied Takefusa Kubo. The visitors looked set to claim three points before Sucic’s late intervention.
Rodrigo de Paul gave the ball away cheaply in his own half and Sucic hit a first-time shot that spun over Oblak and into the net. Kubo fired narrowly off-target in the final minutes as the hosts tried to snatch all three points.
