BARCELONA — Atletico Madrid squandered a chance to reduce the gap with Spanish leader Barcelona to single digits after being held to a 0-0 draw at Malaga Sunday, while Real Sociedad and Real Betis dueled to a thrilling 3-3 draw. Atletico started well and bossed the first half hour of play at La Rosaleda Stadium, when pressure applied by strike pair Radamel Falcao and Diego Costa led to Arda Turan's and Cristian Rodriguez's long-range attempts. But after a frenetic first half, the defenses reduced the match to an ugly stalemate for most of the final 45 minutes. Malaga was never able to find its flow in attack and was limited to defenders Martin Demichelis and Weligton going close with headers from set-pieces. By not winning, Atletico likely let escape its last chance to add some drama to the title race, with Barcelona reeling after two losses to Real Madrid this week and focusing on its last-16 Champions League series with AC Milan in which it needs to come back from a 2-0 deficit. Atletico trails Barcelona, which lost 2-1 at Madrid Saturday, by 11 points in second place with 12 rounds to go. Atletico coach Diego Simeone, however, was content to take away a point four days after his team sealed its place in the Copa del Rey final against Madrid by eliminating Sevilla. Malaga stayed in fourth place, one point ahead of Valencia and clinging to Spain's final Champions League spot for next season. It also faces a key Champions League game against FC Porto in two weeks in which it must overturn a 1-0 loss in the first leg. Elsewhere, Tomer Hemed's last-gasp header gave Mallorca a 2-1 win in stoppage time at Granada, breaking an eight-game winless run for the relegation-threatened club. In Barcelona, Espanyol's home winning run was ended at five games after it was held to a 0-0 draw by Valladolid, keeping both teams in the middle of the table. Milestone for Totti Roma captain Francesco Totti became the joint second all-time top scorer in Serie A Sunday with a 225th career goal in the league during a 3-1 win over Genoa at the Olympic Stadium. — Agencies
