Atletico Madrid missed the chance to move back into second place of the Primera Division as they could only manage a 1-1 draw at home to Valencia on Sunday. Real Madrid's 1-1 draw at Real Zaragoza on Saturday had given Los Rojiblancos the chance to overtake their city rivals, but Valencia were well worthy of their point as they boosted their own chances of claiming the final Champions League slot. The game got off to a flying start with two goals in the opening five minutes as Jonas put Valencia in front before Radamel Falcao bundled home an equaliser 60 seconds later.

Atletico Madrid cut Barcelona's lead at the top of La Liga back to 12 points as Radamel Falcao's penalty was enough to hand them a 1-0 win over Espanyol. The Colombian converted his seventh spot-kick of the campaign after Hector Moreno had brought down Diego Costa eight minutes before the break. However, Atleti had to play the entire second-half with 10 men as Gabi was sent-off for a second yellow card in the last action of the first-half.

By Tony Jimenez LONDON, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Radamel Falcao's 25th goal of the season was in vain as holders Atletico Madrid were ousted from the Europa League on Thursday while a last-gasp goal by Moussa Dembele set Tottenham Hotspur up for a clash with Inter Milan. Atletico slumped to a shock 2-0 home defeat by Rubin Kazan in Madrid last week and were bundled out 2-1 on aggregate even though Falcao's 84th-minute strike earned them a 1-0 win in the return match in Russia.

Atletico Madrid moved back to within 12 points of Barcelona at the top of La Liga with a comfortable 3-0 win Sunday over Valladolid. Radamel Falcao got the visitors off to the perfect start with his 20th league goal of the season as he pounced from a yard after Dani Hernandez had made a fine save to deny Diego Godin. Diego Costa then made it 2-0 seven minutes into the second-half as he smashed home Koke's knockdown and Cristian Rodriguez rounded off a first away win in six league games for Diego Simeone's men in stoppage time.