BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Atlético Madrid got goals from Álvaro Morata and Marcos Llorente to win at Sevilla 2-0 in the Spanish league on Saturday, adding more pressure on beleaguered coach Julen Lopetegui.
Sevilla’s frustrated fans booed their team for another poor performance since the club sold off prized center backs Jules Koundé and Diego Carlos this summer without replacing them.
Lopetegui’s side, which finished fourth to qualify for the Champions League last season, has only one win in nine games across all competitions. The defeat to Atlético left it in 16th place and just one point above the relegation zone.
Llorente opened the scoring in the 29th minute when the midfielder received a pass by Koke Resurrección across the top of the area and fired under goalkeeper Yassine Bounou from an angle.
Morata, whose winner over Portugal put Spain into the Nations League finals this week, chipped Bounou for a second goal in the 57th. Sevilla’s defense was partly to blame as it failed to prevent Morata and attack partner Cunha from winning a long goalkick by Jan Oblak.
Atlético, which moved into fifth place, wasted clear chances to add a third goal.
“Sevilla is a winning club, the expectations are always high, and our fans are not happy, it is normal,” Bounou said about the loud jeers his team received at fulltime.
“The only thing we can do is to turn this around as quickly as possible.”
Koke set a new record for the most games played in the history of Atlético. At age 30, the Spain midfielder has 554 appearances for his club.
Llorente’s goal ended a scoring draught that extended through the entire 2021-22 season. The previous season he struck 12 league goals to help Atlético win the domestic title.
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Sergio León scored twice to lead Valladolid to a 3-2 win at Getafe that was secured by goalkeeper Jordi Masip when he saved a late penalty by Enes Unal.
Villarreal was held at Cádiz to 0-0 and extended the winless run by Unai Emery’s side to three straight rounds following its good start to the season.
Later, Barcelona visited Mallorca trailing leader Real Madrid by two points.
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