Atletico Madrid lead Sevilla at the interval, knowing that a victory will take them to the top of the La Liga table.
Barcelona's dropped points in the earlier kickoff provides the Rojiblancos with the opportunity to overtake both them and rivals Real Madrid with three home points.
Diego Simeone's side had the first opportunity of the match after a clever piece of skill by David Villa found Filipe Luis inside the box, but the Brazilian fired his effort well wide of the target.
Atletico came close again moments later, this time through striker Diego Costa, who turned on the edge of the area before firing into the side-netting.
The home side did eventually get the breakthrough after 18 minutes through Villa, who latched onto a loose ball before firing into the bottom corner.
With fans inside the Vicente Calderon bouncing, Atletico pushed for a second, but failed to create any major chances before half time.
Daniel Lewis
