Atletico Madrid moves closer to securing Champions League spot after win over Celta Vigo

MADRID (AP) — Atletico Madrid moved closer to securing the fourth and final Champions League spot with a 1-0 win over Celta Vigo in the Spanish league on Sunday.

Rodrigo De Paul scored an 84th-minute winner for Atletico, which opened an eight-point gap to fifth-place Athletic Bilbao with three rounds remaining. Athletic was held at home to a 2-2 draw with Osasuna on Saturday.

“You know me, we have to keep improving until the end,” Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone said. “We have to keep fighting no matter what.”

It was the third win in a row for Atletico, which is three points behind third-place Barcelona. The Catalan club hosts sixth-place Real Sociedad on Monday.

Celta, which has lost three of its last five games, stayed in 16th place, five points above the relegation zone. Rayo Vallecano, which began the weekend in 17th, played eighth-place Valencia later Sunday.

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