Atletico remain in top spot after draw with Barca
Atletico Madrid held on to their Spanish league lead again, this time by earning a draw against Lionel Messi’s Barcelona at the Camp Nou Stadium.
Last week, they benefited from a Barcelona setback to remain at the top, and overnight they will need Real Madrid to stumble to avoid losing first place.
Atletico drew with Barcelona 0-0 on Saturday to fend off the Catalan club’s charge. They need Sevilla to hold off Madrid; Zinedine Zidane’s team would take the lead with a home win.
“I’m not watching these matches, it’s not something that is good for me,” Atletico coach Diego Simeone said.
“I prefer not to watch them. And it won’t change much if I do watch them. So I’ll keep calm. I’ll be having dinner with the family and then I’ll start preparing for the next match.”
Saturday’s draw kept Atletico two points in front of Barcelona with three rounds to go. Madrid were three points back but would take the lead with a victory overnight because they hold the headto-head tiebreaker against their city rivals. Sevilla were fourth, seven points behind Atletico and still in contention.
Simeone’s team, seeking their first league title since 2014, have been in front for most of the season but have squandered a big points lead at the business end.
Atletico played well at the Camp Nou but couldn’t capitalise on their chances, with Luis Suarez unable to break through with a goal against his former club.
“We showed from the start that we came out to win the match,” Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak said.
“It was a good result, we added another point with three rounds to go.”
Messi had some of the few chances for Barcelona, his best near the end of the first half after a great run past defenders. But his shot was brilliantly saved by Oblak. Messi’s 90th-minute free kick just missed the post.
This could be Messi’s last chance to win the league with Barcelona before his contract ends at the end of the season.
Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo had a goal disallowed for offside in the 70th.
“We expected a better result but we are still alive,” Barcelona defender Gerard Pique said. “We played a good match, we competed, we had more clear chances than they had, but in the end it wasn’t possible to get the win.”