(Football news) Atletico Madrid, who were infamously knocked out of this year's UCL quarter finals by Manchester City have secured their place in next season's competition. The Rojiblancos got a 2-0 win against Elche away from home. They also overtook Sevilla to jump to 3rd place on the table. With 2 games left, Atleti still have an outside chance of overtaking Barcelona to finish 2nd and qualify for the Spanish Super Cup. The Rojiblancos took a massive step towards UCL qualification with a win against Real Madrid and now they have finished the job.

Diego Simeone started Antoine Griezmann and Matheus Cunha up front with Luis Suarez and Angel Correa on the bench. Rodrigo De Paul started his first game since 21st April. It was a very professional performance by Atletico. Sime Vrsaljko was forced off with an injury and was replaced by Renan Lodi in the 7th. The Brazilian had an instant impact as he assisted Cunha for the first goal. Atletico looked comfortable with the lead and managed to get a second goal in the second half. De Paul played a lovely one-two with Griezmann to get a two goal cushion.

Elche never looked like scoring a goal as they had no shots on target and no clear cut chances. Athletico's remaining games are against Sevilla and Real Sociedad. Both the games are very tricky but they give Simeone a chance to test his players a little and start building for next season. There were calls for him to be sacked earlier in the season but there has been enough improvement to keep him for another season at least.

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