MADRID: Atletico Madrid warmed up for their Europa League clash with Arsenal by playing out a 0-0 draw with in-form Betis in La Liga on Sunday, a result that left Barcelona closer still to the Spanish title.

Diego Simeone’s Atletico moved 11 points behind Barcelona with four games remaining and the unbeaten leaders need one more point to win the title.

With the Europa League semi-final first leg at Arsenal on Thursday in mind, Simeone rested forward Antoine Griezmann and midfielder Jorge “Koke” Resurreccion, before sending both on as second-half substitutes. Defender Diego Godin never left the bench.

“The team is heading into Thursday’s game really well,” Simeone said. “We made important changes and the players responded, I had to rotate to ensure we had fresh players.”

Betis, who had won their previous six games, remained in fifth place and on course for the Europa League next season.

“It was an evenly contested match and for us that is enough,” said Betis coach Quique Setien.

LAS PALMAS DOWN

Elsewhere on Sunday, Las Palmas had their relegation from La Liga confirmed following an emphatic 4-0 defeat at home to Alaves.

The club from Gran Canaria needed a win to keep alive their slim hopes of staying in Spain’s top flight for a fourth straight season.

However, they suffered a fifth successive defeat in front of a sparse crowd on a wet Sunday in the Canary Islands, with Barcelona loanee Munir El Haddadi’s second-half brace having Alaves in control before Alvaro Medran and Ruben Sobrino added late goals.

Last-placed Malaga, who had already been relegated, beat Real Sociedad 2-0 with goals by Adrian Gonzalez and Youssef En-Nesyri.

Deportivo La Coruna are currently in the remaining relegation spot.

Gerard Moreno scored two goals as Espanyol won 2-0 at Girona to damage their Catalan rivals dreams of finishing in a Europa League spot. The result left Girona ninth and Espanyol 16th in the standings, 11 points clear of the relegation zone.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2018