Almeria 2-2 Atletico Madrid: Luka Romero scores twice as bottom side earn draw with Champions League hopefuls

Atletico Madrid's poor LaLiga run continued on Saturday, when they were held to a 2-2 draw by bottom-placed Almeria, thanks to a brace from 19-year-old Argentine forward Luka Romero.

Atletico, who have failed to win three of their last four league games, are fourth in the standings with 52 points. They are four points behind third-placed Girona and three ahead of fifth-placed Athletic Bilbao, both of whom have one game in hand.

Almeria are still winless after 26 matches and have only nine points, 11 behind the safety zone.

Atletico started strong, and Angel Correa's close-range effort in the second minute gave the visitors the lead.

While Memphis Depay missed a chance to extend their lead a few minutes later, Romero tied the game in the 27th minute with a fine long-range strike.

Rodrigo de Paul put the visitors back ahead with a deflected shot in the 57th minute, and Rodrigo Riquelme nearly extended the lead two minutes later, but his strike from the edge of the box hit the crossbar.

Romero, who became the youngest player to appear in a LaLiga match for Mallorca as a 15-year-old in 2020, fired another equaliser into the top corner in the 64th minute.

"It's a sour taste. I don't care about scoring a goal, I care about the team winning. We tried but we couldn't take the three points, it's frustrating," De Paul told Movistar Plus.

On Thursday, Atletico will play the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final against Athletic Bilbao. They trail 1-0 after the first leg.

"We have to know how to manage that anger (of dropping points today) and use it to prepare very well for Thursday," added De Paul.

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