Antoine Griezmann preserved Atletico Madrid’s status as chief challengers to Barcelona in La Liga on Sunday after his stunning free-kick earned them a 1-1 draw at Sevilla. Sevilla would have leapfrogged Atletico into second with a win at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan and were favourites to do so when Wissam Ben Yedder put them ahead eight minutes before the break. Griezmann howev
er produced a moment of magic by whipping home his fifth goal in as many games on the stroke of half-time to ensure a thrilling, and at times bad-tempered contest that featured 12 yellow cards ended with the spoils shared and Atletico two points behind leaders Barca. Real Madrid’s stuttering form has left these two closest to Barca at the top and a riveting final 10 minutes highlighted how hard they were intent on pushing the reigning champions.
