The La Liga championship will be decided on the final day of the season, after Barcelona failed to score in their 0-0 draw with Elche while Atletico Madrid managed to salvage a 1-1 draw at home against Malaga, holding the edge going into the mega clash next week. Real Madrid? They’ve given up on the season, losing 2-0 at Celta and losing any chance of winning the title.
Atletico Madrid conceded first against a team with nothing to play for, as Samuel scored to send some at the Vicente Calderon to tears and panic. As bad as Barcelona have been this season, there’s still the fear factor to get over, and no one saw them losing at Elche, even if the hosts were fighting for their lives.
Toby Alderweireld made the mistake that allowed Malaga to score? The Belgian defender equalized to put Atletico on the prowl again, pressing forward but a great day from Willy Caballero, including an amazing save off of Adrian in the final minute of injury time, meant it ended in a draw, giving us a title decider on the final day of the season.
Barcelona have blown too many chances this season and now will play Atletico Madrid for a sixth time with the Spanish championship on the line. Xavi came in to play only in the final 10 minutes, but aside from one massive crossbar hit from Andres Iniesta in the first half, Barcelona once again looked like a slightly impotent side. Lionel Messi had himself an amazing miss in the second half, but it’s not that surprising considering his weird season.
A win, considering Atletico drawing at home, wouldn’t have mattered much. Barcelona still need to win next week at the Camp Nou in order to walk away with a title many think they don’t deserve.
Real Madrid? They’re thinking of the decima, nothing else. It’s hard to say what Sergio Ramos was thinking when he was stripped from behind by Chalres to give Celta a shocking lead. Charles scored the second goal as well, ending Real’s chances of winning the title, in what will be remembered as a failure of a season unless they come away as the champions of Europe.