Barkero makes Atletico pay the penalty

A stoppage time penalty from Jose Barkero left Atletico Madrid frustrated as the capital club dropped two vital points in a 1-1 draw at promoted Numancia on Sunday.

Atletico were poised to close to within four points of Valencia and Sevilla, fifth and sixth respectively, after a sixth goal of the season from Uruguayan international Diego Forlan but Mariano Pernia gave away a late penalty and Barkero cooly slotted home.

Atletico’s rivals Villarreal, Sevilla and Valencia had dropped valuable points but the draw means they failed to capitalise and Javier Aguirre’s team stay six points off fifth-placed Sevilla.

The Champions League is next for Atletico on Wednesday with Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven the opponents.

Atletico are joint top of Champions League group D with Liverpool on eight points but the home match against PSV will be played behind closed doors as UEFA punish Atletico for crowd trouble in their group match against Marseille at the Vicente Calderon.

Elsewhere Osasuna coach Jose Antonio Camacho reached a milestone with his 600th league match as a coach and celebrated it with a 3-1 victory as Osasuna won for the first time this season.

Almeria took an early lead but were handicapped by playing with ten men from the eighth minute of the match and Camacho’s side took advantage to climb off the foot of the table with Recreativo Huelva taking their place.

Later league leaders Barcelona are aiming for a tenth successive league victory to pull five points clear of second-placed Real Madrid at the summit.

Barcelona are at home to Getafe whose new coach Victor Munoz has fared well at the Nou Camp in the past so Barcelona counterpart Pep Guardiola is wary.

“I have a lot of respect for Victor Munoz, he’s got a great track record and has done really well against us here at Camp Nou,” said Guardiola. “He always seems to have something up his sleeve for this game.”

Argentine international Lionel Messi has been ruled out of the game with a thigh strain that prevented him from training with Guardiola clearly not willing to risk his star man.

Real Madrid’s under-pressure coach Bernd Schuster watched his side go second with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Recreativo on Saturday and he will hope his old club Getafe can upend Barcelona on their own ground.

Real were far from convincing against Recre but striker Javier Saviola pointed out that the double champions are still within striking distance at the top of the table.

“It’s important that we string some wins together, which will give us confidence and make us stronger,” said Saviola. “Only then will we see the better football. You shouldn’t forget that we are right up there, and that’s what really matters.”

Real are a point ahead of Villarreal who lost 3-0 at home to Valladolid on Saturday.

Villarreal need to dust themselves down quickly as they have to face Manchester United at El Madrigal in the Champions League on Tuesday.