On Friday, the intriguing clash began the 24th round of the Spanish "La Liga" championship.
At the "Mestalla" stadium, the teams fighting for a place in the UEFA Champions League - Madrid's "Atletico" and "Valencia" - clashed their swords. In a tense and fruitful duel, the winner did not emerge - a 2:2 draw.
In the 15th minute, Marcos Llorente put the visitors ahead, but in the 40th minute Gabriel Paulista equalized with a goal.
"Valencia", in turn, pulled the ball out of their net again just three minutes later, when Thomas Partey scored a wonderful goal.
In the second half, the "bats" fought for three points, with Geoffrey Kondogbia scoring in the 59th minute.
Both teams had opportunities in the remaining time, but both goalkeepers did their job flawlessly in the last half hour.
"Atletico" once again risks falling out of the top four: they could be overtaken by "Sevilla", while "Real Sociedad" could succeed them.
"Valencia", temporarily climbing to seventh place, is only two points behind "Atletico".
Result:
"Valencia" 2 - 2 "Atletico"
15' [0 - 1] M. Llorente
40' [1 - 1] G. Paulista
43' [1 - 2] T. Partey
59' [2 - 2] G. Kondogbia
