Atletico, Barca and Real Madrid all win in Spanish top league
Kicking off after FC Barcelona and Real Madrid had already won their respective games in the 12th round, the pressure was on Diego Simeone's side, but two first half goals from David Villa and Diego Costa were enough to give Atletico the win in a game they controlled with few problems.
The most disappointing aspect of the game were the continued insults from a section of the home support aimed at the visiting players and fans.
The round of games kicked off on Friday night as a solitary goal from Alexis Sanchez decided the Catalan derby between FC Barcelona and Espanyol in Barca's favor in what was a tight game in which Barca struggled to break down their well-organized neighbors
Real Madrid came close to throwing away a 3-0 lead away to neighbors, Rayo Vallecano before hanging on for a 3-2 win on Saturday night.
Madrid's speed on the break led to two goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and a Karim Benzema header to give Madrid an apparently comfortable 3-0 lead after 48 minutes with two of the goals set up by good work by Gareth Bale, but Rayo refused to give up and two penalties after 52 and 54 minutes, scored by Jonathan Viera brought them back into the game.
The home side were almost rewarded for a courageous second half display when a shot from Embarba bounced back off the post after Madrid keeper Diego Lopez got the slightest of touches.
Saturday also saw Real Sociedad warm up for next week's visit of Manchester United in the Champions League with a 5-0 thrashing of Osasuna.
Ruben Pardo was the star of the show setting up the first three goals from set pieces with Ansotegui, Inigo Martinez and Antoine Griezmann all scoring headers.
Real Sociedad's task was made easier when Osasuna defender Loties was sent off in the 49th minute with the score 2-0, but by then the side from San Sebastian were clearly in control.
Chori Castro made it 4-0 with 10 minutes remaining and Haris Serefovic ended the scoring from close range three minutes from the end.
Almera won their second game in less than a week, a controversial goal by striker Rodri, who appeared to have put the ball into the goal using his hand.
Finally Sevilla keeper Beto gifted Celta their second away win as he passed the ball straight to Celta midfielder Alex Lopez who then scored the only goal of the game in the Sanchez Pizjuan to increase the pressure on Sevilla coach, Unai Emery whose side lost 7-3 to Real Madrid in midweek.
Sunday kicked off with Valencia taking a 1-0 win away to Getafe thanks to Dorlan Pavon's spectacular shot from outside of the penalty area. The win ends a three game losing streak for Valencia which had put coach Miroslav Djukic under pressure.
Granada claimed an important away win against Levante with Piti scoring the vital goal in injury time after El Zhar had missed a penalty for the home side.
The day ended with an entertaining match between Malaga and Betis as the two sides from Andalusia produced a thrilling game which looked destined for a 2-2 draw until Samuel Garcia scored the decisive goal in injury time to give Malaga a moral boosting 3-2 victory.
