Atletico Madrid beat newly crowned Copa del Rey winners Athletic Bilbao 3-1 at home in LaLiga on Saturday as Diego Simeone's side moved a step closer to a top-four finish.

Fourth-placed Atletico moved onto 64 points and have increased their advantage over Athletic, in fifth, to six points with five games to play.

Midfielder Rodrigo de Paul put Atletico in front in the 15th minute with a goal from outside the box. After controlling an attempted clearance from the visitors, his effort dipped just under the bar as his strike deflected off one of the Athletic defenders.

Athletic levelled just before half-time through Nico Williams after Antoine Griezmann lost the ball through a careless pass.

But Angel Correa restored the lead for Atletico in the 52nd minute and later came close to scoring again.

With 10 minutes to play, away goalkeeper Unai Simon inadvertently made it 3-1 with an own goal after Samuel Lino’s effort came back off the post, ending any Athletic hopes of a comeback.

Athletic Bilbao swept past Atletico Madrid 3-0 at Estadio San Mames to seal their place in the Copa del Rey final.

Leading 1-0 from the opening leg, first-half goals from brothers Nico and Inaki Williams put the hosts in control of the tie.

Gorka Guruzeta swept in a third on the hour as Athletic secured a final date with Real Mallorca.

The visitors created an early opening when Samuel Lino’s effort was straight at Bilbao keeper Julen Agirrezabala.

Bilbao broke the deadlock in the 13th minute when Nico Williams got to the left goalline and chipped a lofted cross back through the penalty area and his brother Inaki crashed home a volley.

The Williams brothers soon combined again, this time Inaki fed Nico on the wing and his shot flew narrowly wide of the right post.

Atletico pushed for a response as Angel Correa fired over the crossbar after being picked out by Alvaro Morata’s pass.

There was a brief stoppage in play around the 35th minute as a spectator needed medical treatment in the stands, but the game soon resumed.

Bilbao doubled their lead in the 42nd minute when Inaki Williams was played clear down the right and held off Atletico defender Mario Hermoso before cutting the ball back for Nico to stab in from close range.

The start of the second half saw another delay for a different fan in the record crowd of 52,061 packed into the Cathedral to receive medical assistance, eventually being carried away on a stretcher.

Athletic Bilbao later confirmed the person had been struggling to breathe, but was stabilised and taken to hospital.

When the action restarted, Nico Williams was soon involved again to send Oihan Sancet clear on goal, but his shot was fired well over the crossbar.

Atletico boss Diego Simeone tried to spark some life into his side with a triple change after 54 minutes, with Memphis Depay, Reinildo Mandava and Pablo Barrios sent on to replace Nahuel Molina, Hermoso and Correa.

Any hopes of a comeback, though, were ended in the 61st minute when Guruzeta knocked in a rebound after Sancet’s angled effort had been pushed out by Madrid keeper Jan Oblak.

Depay’s angled free-kick was acrobatically saved by Agirrezabala before Saul Niguez headed wide as Bilbao saw out the closing stages to reach the Copa del Rey final at La Cartuja for the first time since 2021.

Robert Lewandowski scored an injury-time penalty at the second time of asking as Barcelona secured a nail-biting late win over Celta Vigo to stay in touch with the LaLiga title race.

Lewandowski had already given his side the lead with an emphatic finish on the stroke of half-time but Iago Aspas put his struggling side on course for a draw with a deflected effort soon after the restart.

Lewandowski eventually won it from the spot in the seventh minute of added time, but only after the referee ordered a retake when his first attempt was saved by an encroaching Vicente Guaita. The result leaves them two points behind Girona in second and seven shy of rivals and leaders Real Madrid, having played one game more than both.

At the Metropolitano Stadium, fourth-placed Atletico Madrid ran out 5-0 winners over Las Palmas. Marcos Llorente and Angel Correa scored two apiece and Memphis Depay rounded things out in a one-sided contest.

Osasuna beat Cadiz 2-0 and Sevilla took a goalless draw from Valencia on their visit to the Mestalla.

In Ligue 1, departing Paris St Germain striker Kylian Mbappe found himself left out of the starting XI against Nantes only to step off the bench and bury a penalty.

Having announced his summer departure from PSG, Mbappe had to wait until the 62nd minute to see action but was ready to slot home from the spot to put the finishing touch to a 2-0 win. Lucas Hernandez had earlier put the runaway league leaders ahead on the hour.

Elsewhere, Lille moved back into third on goal difference as hat-trick hero Jonathan David put away Le Havre 3-0.

In Germany, Bundesliga’s relentless leaders Bayer Leverkusen banked another three points with a 2-1 away win at Heidenheim.

Xabi Alonso’s title-chasers have now won seven of their last eight matches, with Jeremie Frimpong and Amine Adli on target this time. Tim Kleindienst set up some late tension with an 87th-minute reply but the hosts could not force a second.

Third-placed Stuttgart fought for a 2-1 win at bottom club Darmstadt despite Pascal Stenzel’s red card at the end of the first half. They now sit five points above Borussia Dortmund, with the latter held 1-1 at Wolfsburg after substitute Yannick Gerhardt responded to Niclas Fullkrug’s early effort.

RB Leipzig won 2-0 against Borussia Monchengladbach, Union Berlin scored the only goal away to Hoffenheim and strugglers Mainz recorded a 1-0 win over Augsburg.

Juventus’ hopes of chipping away at Inter’s Serie A lead were stifled as they were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw at Verona. Juve twice dragged themselves back from a goal down, Dusan Vlahovic’s penalty and Adrien Rabiot’s second-half strike squaring efforts from Michael Folorunsho and Tijjani Noslin.

A point left Massimiliano Allegri’s men nine points behind the Nerazurri, who have a game in hand.

Napoli’s disappointing season continued to underwhelm as they were held 1-1 at home by Genoa. Morten Frendrup put the away side in front and it was not until the 90th minute that substitute Cyril Ngonge grabbed an equaliser.

Mario Pasalic, Teun Koopmeiners and Mitchel Bakker all found the target as Atalanta strengthened their grip on fourth spot at the expense of Sassuolo.

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