Ronaldo sees red as Real slip up against Athletic

Ronaldo sees red as Real slip up against Athletic

Atletico Madrid go top in Spain with 4-0 win over Real Sociedad

Cristiano Ronaldo was sent-off as Real Madrid lost ground in the La Liga title race with a 1-1 draw away to Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.

Atletico Madrid became outright leaders for the first time since their double winning season in 1996 earlier in the day with a 4-0 win over Real Sociedad on Sunday.

The draw moves Real level with Barcelona, who suffered a shock defeat at home to Valencia on Saturday, three points behind Atletico.

It could have been so much better for Madrid as after a difficult opening 45 minutes, Jese Rodriguez looked to have them on the road to a 11th consecutive victory when he prodded home Ronaldo’s cross 25 minutes from time.

However, after Ibai Gomez had spectacularly equalised, Ronaldo was shown a soft red card for lashing out at Carlos Gurpegi.

And in the end Madrid were grateful to goalkeeper Diego Lopez for salvaging a point as he made lave saves from Gomez and Aritz Aduriz.

Earlier, Atletico moved top on an emotional evening at the Vicente Calderon, as former players and fans paid their tributes to former Spain and Atletico player and coach Luis Aragones, who died on Saturday, before the match.

The Atletico fans remained silent for the first eight minutes before beginning to chant Aragones’ name in a tribute to the number he wore as a player with Los Rojiblancos.

And Atletico boss Diego Simeone was pleased with how his side dealt with the emotion of the evening.

“When someone like Luis leaves us there is pain and sadness, but today the fans, the game and that silence for the first eight minutes before they sang his name moved me. From above he would be wearing red and white and happy with the bravery we showed.

“Real Sociedad made it difficult without creating great chances. Defending didn’t worry me, but the problem was when you don’t attack and it was difficult for us to get out in the second-half.

“The changes gave us some freshness. We had the ball more and we managed to get going again. It is a win against a very difficult opponent.”

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