Mikautadze helps Villarreal tighten grip on third place

Villarreal strengthened its hold on third place in the Spanish league with a 1-0 win at Levante in a match that was initially postponed last year. Georges Mikautadze scored the 57th-minute winner on Wednesday as Villarreal moved three points ahead of fourth-place Atletico Madrid.

Villarreal is 10 points behind second-place Barcelona and 12 behind leader Real Madrid after 24 rounds. It was Villarreal’s second victory in three matches following a sequence of five straight winless games across all competitions. Levante, which remained in second-to-last place, has lost three in a row and hasn’t won in four matches. The game had been scheduled for December 14 but was called off because of heavy rain in the Valencia region.