Nicolás González was Atlético’s super substitute.
Atlético Madrid will head into their Champions League tie with Tottenham on top after claiming a dramatic late 3-2 win over Real Sociedad in LaLiga.
Alexander Sorloth’s volley against his former club gave Atlético a lead in the fifth minute, although that volley was quickly extinguished when Carlos Soler superbly found the top left corner.
Nicolás González scored in the 67th minute with a clever backheel from Antoine Griezmann to restore Atlético’s lead, but Sociedad responded immediately with a shot from the edge of the area by Mikel Oyarzabal.
But substitute González’s second goal settled the game nine minutes from time when he met Matteo Ruggeri’s left-wing cross with a good header into the bottom left corner.
While Atlético have no hope of reducing the 13-point gap on leaders Barcelona, who won 1-0 at Athletic Club thanks to a brilliant goal from Lamine Yamal, they are three points ahead of fourth-placed Villarreal in the race to finish third. Villarreal will host Elche on Sunday.
Elsewhere in LaLiga, relegation-threatened Mallorca drew 2-2 at Osasuna in a match both teams finished with 10 men. There was heartbreak for 10-man Levante as a 94th-minute equalizer allowed Girona to draw 1-1 against the second-to-last LaLiga club.
Juventus and Como continue Champions League momentum
Juventus scored a resounding victory to boost their hopes of finishing in the top four in Serie A.
Andrea Cambiaso, Khephren Thuram, Kenan Yildiz and Jeremie Boga scored in the second half as the Bianconeri thrashed bottom-placed Pisa 4-0.
They are one point behind fourth-placed Roma and fifth-placed Como, who continued their Champions League push with a 2-1 win at Cagliari. Lucas Da Cunha settled the contest for Como, scoring what turned out to be the winning goal in the 76th minute after Martin Baturina opened the scoring.
Atalanta is five points behind the top four despite coming back in the second half against Udinese.
Gianluca Scamacca scored twice in the space of four minutes, the second coming 11 minutes from the end of normal time as Atalanta came back from 2-0 down to claim a point.
Leverkusen and Stuttgart lose crucial points
A 92nd-minute own goal from Arthur Chaves gave RB Leipzig a 2-1 victory over Augsburg, who had earlier missed a penalty, and results in other matches made it a very positive day for Ole Werner’s team.
Fellow Champions League side Stuttgart were held to a 2-2 draw by Mainz, who scored a 91st-minute equalizer through Danny da Costa to claim a point. Meanwhile, Bayer Leverkusen had to settle for a 3-3 draw in Freiburg despite twice coming from behind to take the lead. Matthias Ginter rescued a point for Freiburg with four minutes left in regulation time.
This means Leipzig are level on points with fourth-placed Stuttgart, while Leverkusen are three points behind sixth place.
Hoffenheim are two points ahead of Stuttgart and Leipzig after beating bottom-placed Heidenheim 4-2 on the road thanks in part to a brace from Alexander Prass.
Borussia Dortmund reduced the gap with runaway leader Bayern Munich to 11 points by beating 10-man Cologne 2-1, and Hamburg won by the same score against second-to-last Wolfsburg, with all three goals coming from the penalty spot.
In Ligue 1, Mason Greenwood scored the only goal of the game as Marseille beat Toulouse to bolster their Champions League ambitions. Strasbourg’s European challenge was halted by a 0-0 draw against Auxerre, with Angers winning 1-0 in Nantes.
