<p>BARCELONA, Spain — Atlético Madrid needed a goal by Marcos Llorente and a penalty miss by Elche in injury time to grind out a 1-0 win and open a five-point advantage at the top of the Spanish league on Saturday.</p>
<p>Other than Llorente’s first-half goal, Atlético relied on its defense and almost paid for it in the final moments when Llorente used his arm to disrupt a cross into the box.</p>
<p>But Diego Simeone’s side dodged another costly stumble away from home when Elche’s Fidel Chaves fired the resulting penalty kick off the left post.</p>
<p>“It was an obligation to win today,” Llorente said. “These three points give us a lot of strength for what’s ahead. Winning is always a boost to the team’s spirit and confidence, and even more so now that we are reaching the finale.” </p>
<p>Atlético’s first road victory in five trips let it open a five-point gap over Real Madrid and Barcelona, with Sevilla just one more point back.</p>
<p>Madrid hosted Osasuna later Saturday. Barcelona visits Valencia on Sunday, and Sevilla hosts Athletic Bilbao on Monday.</p>
<p>Then comes next weekend’s pair of head-to-head clashes between the challengers: Atlético visits Barcelona on May 8, and the next day Madrid hosts Sevilla. After that, there will only be three rounds left.</p>
<p>Llorente scored in a match dominated by defense in the 24th when Yannick Carraso dribbled to the end-line and assisted the midfielder in the heart of the box. Llorente’s shot took a deflection off a defender before landing in the net.</p>
<p>Ahead in the score, Atlético’s defense clamped down until the final minutes when the relegation-threatened Elche finally threatened Jan Olbak’s goal only to come up empty. </p>
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