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Spanish press hail Atletico Madrid as they edge towards LaLiga title

  /  autty

Front pages in Spain joked that 'if they didn't suffer, it wouldn't be Atletico' after Diego Simeone's side took a huge step towards winning LaLiga.

The title race in Spain has proven thrilling this season with four teams - Atletico, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Sevilla - all in contention with a handful of games remaining.

Points have been dropped and there have been shock results but a 2-1 win over Real Sociedad on Wednesday night saw Simeone's side go 'two steps away,' according to Thursday's edition of Diario AS.

Goals from Yannick Carrasco and Angel Correa ensured a key win at the Wanda Metropolitano and the title is in Atletico's hands with two games left to play.

Simeone's side have a home game against Osasuna next, before finishing the 2020-21 campaign away to relegation-threatened Real Valladolid.

Diario AS added that Atletico 'steamrolled' Real Sociedad from the start but 'struggled' to close it out after Igor Zubeldia got a goal back for the visitors seven minutes before the end.

Prior to beating Real Sociedad, Simeone's side had just one win from their last three league games and it appeared they were losing momentum at the worst possible time.

At the turn of the year, Atletico's comfortable lead at the top of the table evaporated and Simeone accepted he and his players were 'suffering'.

But with this latest win, Marca insisted that 'if they didn't suffer, it wouldn't bee Atleti' as they look to close out the season in the most dramatic of fashions.

'In this tight end of the season their goal made us really suffer in those last few minutes,' Simeone said after, exhausted from another nail-biting 90 minutes.

'We need to rest. It's been a very tough season and it's going to be tough until the end.

'It started too fast and it's something that's affected all teams, we're not the exception. We continue, game-by-game, knowing Sunday will be another important and difficult game.'

Barcelona's 3-3 draw with Levante this week appears to have all but ended their title hopes as Ronald Koeman's side sit four points off Atletico with two games remaining.

Sevilla are also out of the race as they sit six adrift but with a significantly worse goal difference.

If Atletico are to be made to sweat it is just Real Madrid who can take the fight to them, provided they win their game in hand over Granada on Thursday and close the gap to two points.

'Everything can happen,' Zidane told reporters this week. 'We can win it just like we can lose it.

'The most important thing is to give everything and how we act on the pitch. We've played good games and the season is long.'