Atletico miss chance to take advantage of Barca slip

Atletico had the better chances in a scrappy game at the Calderon but were undone when Villarreal forward Luciano Vietto cut inside his marker and drilled a shot past Miguel Angel Moya in the home goal six minutes from time.

Mario Mandzukic came close to breaking the deadlock against a well-organised Villarreal side when he drew a fine save from Sergio Asenjo with a close-range effort in the 56th minute.

The towering Croat nodded the ball into the net two minutes later but the referee ruled he had shoved defender Mario in the act of leaping for the ball.

On Saturday, Barcelona lost ground on title rivals Real Madrid with an uninspired performance in a 0-0 draw at rain-lashed Getafe that left them four points behind the La Liga leaders.

Real jetted off to the Club World Cup in Morocco after a 4-1 win at Almeria on Friday extended their Spanish record winning streak to 20 matches in all competitions.

Second-placed Barca, missing injured Brazil captain Neymar from their forward line, needed a win to trim the gap back to two points but struggled against some gritty Getafe defending at the Coliseum in the Madrid suburbs.

Neymar's partner in attack Lionel Messi was unable to convert the few chances that came his way and add to his 13 La Liga goals this season, although he came close when he curled a 52nd-minute free-kick against the bar.

The Argentina captain has hit the frame of the goal eight times in Spain's top flight this term, twice as many as the next most frequent, Real's Karim Benzema.

Luis Suarez had another frustrating night and has still not opened his account in La Liga in seven appearances since his ban for biting an opponent at the World Cup expired at the end of October.

Goalkeeper Claudio Bravo had little to do apart from leaping superbly to his left to palm a shot from Getafe forward Angel Lafita around the post in the 33rd minute.

In Italy, Sampdoria ended Juventus' incredible run of 25 successive Serie A home wins when they drew 1-1 against the leaders yesterday thanks to a second-half goal by substitute Manolo Gabbiadini.

Juventus dominated the first half and went ahead when Patrice Evra was left unmarked at a corner to head his first Serie A goal since his move from Manchester United in the close season.

The Frenchman's goal was debatable, however, as replays showed that Claudio Marchisio had placed the ball outside the quadrant when he took the corner.

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich steamrolled Augsburg 4-0 with four goals in 13 minutes on Saturday to increase their lead to ten points at the top of the Bundesliga and secure top spot for the winter break later this month.