La Liga’s a Real Messi...
ATLETICO CLING TO TOP... BUT MADRID CAN NOW TAKE POLE
ATLETICO MADRID remain two points clear at the top of La Liga – but their stalemate with Barcelona means rivals Real Madrid now hold the advantage in the title race.
Real will move level on points with Atletico if they beat Sevilla tonight – but Zinedine Zidane’s men would be at the summit, because of their head-to-head record, with three games to go.
Barcelona had trailed Atletico by 13 points in January and boss Ronald Koeman said he never imagined they would have closed the gap to just two before this meeting at the Nou Camp.
That difference remains the same after both sides drew a
KICK TO THRILL
Luis Suarez tries an ambitious overhead kick blank – but both will still feel the title race is far from over.
And Barca star Gerard Pique said: “We are still alive in the chase for the title. We competed well and had more chances than them.
“It wasn’t to be but we know the situation we are in. I think this is a title race that is still very much wide open. There’s still a lot to play for and I’m sure there will be many twists and turns before the end of the season.”
Luis Suarez, returning to face his former side, embraced with former team-mate Lionel Messi before kick-off but posed a threat to Barcelona as soon as the whistle went.
The Uruguayan striker forced
Marc Andre Ter Stegen into a smart stop and the keeper then had to react quickly to palm away the ball from Suarez after keeping out Yannick Carrasco’s shot.
Angel Correa and Marcos Llorente threatened before Barcelona grew stronger as the game wore on.
Messi had Barcelona’s best effort of the first half but the Argentine really came to life with half an hour remaining – and so did the hosts.
Messi saw a free-kick saved by Jan Oblak and Ousmane Dembele headed just over.
He then came closest to finding a winner in the closing stages – but the Argentinian was narrowly wide with a 25-yard free-kick.