Madness in La Liga: Madrid clubs fight to finish on final day

Madness in La Liga: Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid fight to finish on final day

 

Luis Suarez yanks his shirt off in celebration after a late goal hands Atletico the La Liga title advantage against Osasuna. (Photo credit: Sky Sports)

Real Madrid were within touching distance of the top spot, Nacho’s goal meant they would go top and hold the advantage on the final day, news came from Camp Nou that Barcelona was losing, but the initial news that warmed their hearts didn’t last long… Luis Suarez happened!

Kickoff time for all weekend fixtures in La Liga was uniform, it was the penultimate weekend and the title was to be decided should results swing in some manners, of course it did but not to the fullest, it knocked out Barcelona and handed the Madrid based clubs the advantage.

Atletico Madrid were on top of La Liga for so long but when it mattered, they started faltering, their loss to Athletic Bilbao about a month ago seemed to have blown them completely out of the race.

But Barcelona that picked form recorded consecutive draws and Real Madrid had their woes as well.

There was an outside chance for Julien Lopetegui and Sevilla, they had been the dark horse of the title race but where it mattered most, they lost steam too, or how do you explain their annihilation in the hands of Villareal?

At half time, it was a stalemate across all the important grounds, Celta Vigo was holding Barcelona to a 1-1 draw, the games between Atletico Madrid and Osasuna and Real Madrid vs Athletic Bilbao were goalless, and at that time, it was delicately poised.

Things changed quickly after half time, Real Madrid took the lead at Bilbao and against all expectations, Osasuna went in front against Atletico Madrid.

Celta Vigo has Europa qualification in their sights so they weren’t going to be easy for Barcelona, but the pedigree and class in the Barca squad was expected to deal with whatever the visitors brought, but football will always prove weird.

As Real Madrid fans kept their ears to the ground and one eye on the board to be sure there won’t be an equalizer to ruin their own script, the news they feared came in, Atletico equalized but good news came in as well, Barcelona conceded!

Extraordinary, they were still on top but only on head-to-head and they can take that, they just have to match Atletico’s result on the final day, Barcelona laboured in vain, it wasn’t to be, and to rub salt on their open wound, the aged Luis Suarez they released had a say at the other end.

With three minutes left on the clock, Los Blancos got the memo, Luis Suarez had fired Atletico in front and now they must better the result of their city rivals on the final day.

Real Madrid will play Villareal on the final day of La Liga, Barcelona are completely out of the equation and only Real Valladolid stands in the way of Atletico.

Although the former could escape relegation if they beat Diego Simeone’s side and other results go their way, it is delicately poised!

📊🔍🔥 The full #LaLigaSantander table following an 𝗲𝘅𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 day of action.#LiveStandings pic.twitter.com/a3t7xlVX7p

— LaLiga English (@LaLigaEN) May 16, 2021