Crown in sight
Atletico closing in and tensing up as La Liga trophy edges closer
MADRID: “If we didn’t suffer, we wouldn’t be us,” Atletico Madrid captain Koke said but after 36 games and nine months, a 10-point advantage spurned and a two-point advantage left, the trophy was finally in sight.
With just two games left to play, a win tomorrow at home to Osasuna could be enough for the league leaders to clinch the title.
Koke was referring to Atletico’s 2-1 win over Real Sociedad, when they had to hang on “unnecessarily” according to Diego Simeone, after missing chances for a third goal and then conceding one to set up a nail-biting finish.
But he could also have been talking about Atletico’s season, in which they would have won the title by now if it was not for a dramatic drop in form and might have seen it disappear completely if Barcelona and Real Madrid had not been so lacklustre in making them pay.
Instead, Atletico have clung on, neither losing hope nor put out of their misery, the belief growing that they might yet somehow find a way through.
In April, the gap had closed and Real had the wind behind them but draws against Getafe and Real Betis checked the momentum before another draw with Sevilla on Sunday meant the initiative was lost.
Barcelona were the best team in the league between February and May, a defeat in the Clasico just a blip until Granada scored twice in 16 minutes at the Nou Camp.
Barcelona lost there and again away at Levante on Tuesday, their chances evaporating in less than two weeks.
Atletico have managed back-toback wins only once since February
but they have done just enough to keep their heads above water and now they could pull away once and for all.
Real’s 4-1 thrashing of Granada on Thursday night applied pressure but an Atletico victory against Osasuna will still mean the title is theirs, as long as Real fail to win away at Athletic Bilbao.
If Atletico and Real both win, the battle will go to the final weekend, although as a two-horse race instead of three.