Simeone rejects Oblak claim after Atletico stunned by Rayo

Atletico Madrid fell back to earth with a huge bump as they were stunned 3-0 by Rayo Vallecano, three days later beat Barcelona 4-0 in Copa del Rey.

Diego Simeone's men have one foot in the Copa final after their emphatic victory in the first leg of the semi-final, but their efforts in this match seemed to have caught up with them as they slumped to a heavy defeat at Vallecas.

Fran Perez, Oscar Valentin and Nobel Mendy were on target for Rayo as they emerged from the relegation places in style.

The investigation began in earnest for fourth-placed Atletico, with goalkeeper Jan Oblak issuing a pointed criticism in his post-match interview.

“There is no explanation, you can’t choose which games to play, you have to play them all to win,” Oblak said. “We went there to play to win, but our mind is not in the right place to win games in a row, there is no other explanation.”

Simeone, however, disagreed with Oblak's assessment.

“I don’t agree with what Oblak said,” Simeone said. “The team doesn't choose the matches, they competed badly and when the opponent plays better, they are superior and they beat you.

“There's no need to explain. The opponent was simply better. We tried to create several plays on the right side where we were able to progress well, but we couldn't find a way to score, and they were decisive, pressed well, didn't give us time to think and played a good game, while we couldn't play the game we wanted to play.”

Atletico is only four points ahead of fifth-placed Real Betis in the race to qualify for the Champions League, Manuel Pellegrini's men took advantage of the Rojiblancos' slippage by winning 2-1 in Mallorca.

Spain's goal of the day, however, was scored by Largie Ramazani, whose superb volley at the end of a flowing team move put Valencia ahead in their 2-0 win at Levante. The victory put Valencia two points ahead of third-placed Mallorca. Elsewhere, Athletic Bilbao beat bottom side Real Oviedo 2-1.

Alisson to the rescue of Naples

In Serie A, Alisson Santos salvaged a point for Napoli in a hugely entertaining 2-2 draw against Roma.

Roma twice led through Donyell Malen, with the former Aston Villa player restoring their advantage from the penalty spot after their opener was canceled out by a deflected long-range strike from Leonardo Spinazzola.

But there was another twist in the story when Alisson rifled into the bottom left corner eight minutes from time. Defending champions Napoli are third, 11 points behind leaders Inter, with Roma missing the chance to leapfrog them in the table and put some space between them and fifth-placed Juventus. Roma are one point ahead of the Bianconeri in fourth place.

Other Serie A results: Udinese 1-2 Sassuolo, Cremonese 0-0 Genoa, Parma 2-1 Verona, Turin 1-2 Bologna

Lyon cements its third place

Lyon are in an excellent position to return to the Champions League stage after beating Nice 2-0.

Corentin Tolisso and Noah Nartey scored for Les Gones as they consolidated their hold on third place, moving five points ahead of Marseille in fourth.

Auxerre boosted their safety hopes with a 3-1 win over bottom club Metz, while Lorient and Le Havre won over Angers and Toulouse respectively.

In the Bundesliga, Brajan Gruda equalized in the 89th minute as Champions League chasing RB Leipzig came from behind twice to draw 2-2 with struggling Wolfsburg. Leipzig is fifth, two points behind fourth-placed Stuttgart. The day's other match saw Augsburg beat bottom-tier club Heidenheim, continuing their recent upturn in form.