Gerard Piqué knew it, and maybe everyone knew it. In those days, at least at one point or another, everyone had said it, even if they didn’t believe it. But that day he did, and soon joined the rest. For once, the Barcelona defender said he was able to enjoy a post-match interview. And so, standing at Sánchez-Pizjuán at the end of February, after Barcelona’s 6-1 victory over Sevilla, he took his position in front of the microphone and the empty stands, smiled and said:
“Yeah, of course. There’s still a race for the league title – worse things have been seen.”
It was an unusual way to put it, but Atletico Madrid’s DT, Diego Simeone, knew he was right, and so it hurt.
Was it happening again? Could the club, which has lost three European Cups in a combined total of less than three minutes, two of them under his leadership, be on the verge of catastrophically losing a league title as well? Worse things have been seen, but not much worse.
When Atlético beat Cadiz 4-2, the title race did seem to be over. He closed out January with a 10-point lead at the top of the table, and one game less. He had added 50 points, and was on track to reach 100. To put things in context, Madrid and Barcelona were on their way to 76.
“We have to be realistic,” Ronald Koeman acknowledged. “We’re not in a position to earn much.” Meanwhile, Zinédine Zidane’s assistant insisted: “Madrid fans still believe in the team, because it is in their DNA to fight to the end.” But that sounded more like a matter of pride than points, and David Bettoni knew the end was near.
It was over. Although, in reality, nothing had ended.
February changed everything. In 12 days, Atletico lost as many points as it had lost throughout the season. From 50 out of 57 possible to just five in the last four games. In eight games they missed 11 points after losing just 17 in 19 previous games. They hit the crossbar, the post, the archer and missed easy shots, but they simply failed to make their way as they had been doing. Fear visited them again, the pressure came, fatalism. The advantage games – points that had been added to the advance, as if they didn’t even have to play them – were consumed. Extra lives were exhausted.
Meanwhile, in Barcelona and Madrid, something moved. Slow from the beginning, but with each game they were gaining speed. It wasn’t always nice, but the points are points. At the end of a 1-0 victory at Real Valladolid, Lucas Vázquez, from Madrid, was dedicated to highlighting his teammates how important this result had been. Madrid managed to hold on. He had been ruled out many times, but now there was a chance. Somehow.
The margins could be finite. Take week 27 as an example. Two excellent shots on the end: one by Karim Benzema, a Luis Suárez; 01:00 hits the post and goes in, one hits the post and leaves. Benzema converts against Elche, Suárez does not succeed against Getafe, leaving Madrid just six points behind Atletico. There is play. He turns things around and Atlético would be 10 points above Madrid. There is no game.
A recurring theme, the third rescue mission on the line for Madrid: Real Sociedad (draw in the 89th minute), Atlético (draw in the 88th minute), and Elche (goal of the victory in the 92nd minute). As for Barcelona, they have an unbeaten record of 19. Unconvincing at first, they are now playing with everything and they are definitely the best team at the moment in Spain. The only question is whether it was left too much. If Athletic can hold on to what they have.
The derby was especially harmful for the league leader; it was an opportunity for Atlético to beat their rivals … until Karim Benzema scored the equalizer over the end. But he wasn’t the only one: Celta had equalized in the 89th minute. Looking for the equalizer on the end of a match against Levante, they left a space in the rival and ended up giving way. a goal. It’s a cold one and a hot one, of course: last weekend, Alabès could have done the same, but Jan Oblak cut a penalty on the end. The vulnerability was revealed, the nerves were evident to everyone, but this time they avoided disaster.
“A championship cut,” a headline on the front page said. It was “half the headline,” the newspaper said inside. So many moments have been “half a title” that there must be dozens of titles to hand out when the League ends in late May.
There is only one. Which is more than many had thought. The League is about to fight it. It seemed to be finished, defined. And then the headlines started to pray: THE LEAGUE IS TURNED ON. HOT LEAGUE. THE CREAM LEAGUE. And the favorite: There’s League! There is play, and it didn’t always seem that way. Athletic was too good. Madrid and Barcelona, too bad. Not more.
And here we are.
Atlético still face Real Betis (away), Huesca (home), Athletic Bilbao (away), Eibar (home), Elche (away), BARCELONA (away), Real Sociedad (home), the Osasuna (home) and Real Valladolid (away).
Meanwhile, Barcelona has matches against: Real Valladolid (home), REAL MADRID (away), Getafe (home), Villarreal (away), Granada (home), Valencia (away), ATHLETIC MADRID (home), Levante (away) ), Celta Vigo (local) and Eibar (visitor).
Finally, Madrid will face: Eibar (home), Barcelona (home), Cádiz (away), Real Betis (home), Getafe (away), Osasuna (home), Sevilla (home), Granada (away) , Athletic Bilbao (visitor) and Villarreal (home).
However, they do not start from the same line. Atlético is first, a position it has held for 15 weeks, and currently has 66 points. Barcelona is second, four points behind, with 62, while Madrid is third, six points behind, with 60. (But with a better mark, already insurmountable, on foot).
1:41
Manu Martín reviews the latest episodes of the renewal of the Real Madrid captain, which are similar to a television series.
“We have two huge teams behind that won’t lose a game,” Simeone says. Which may not be entirely correct – unless you’re sure your team won’t beat Barcelona and the classic will end in a draw – but it tells you something about the pressure they handle, the mindset they have to adopt. . There is no room for inky measurements, no room for mistakes, or to relax. Atlético has not had an easy match from Cádiz. Every tense and exhausting week, a heart attack, and now you have to overcome them no matter what. No excuses, no way out, no easy paths.
Atlético’s position is the best, but by no means is it safe. He would have scored for it at the start of the season, but towards the middle. And you can still lose; the other team, no. Ronald Koeman clearly called for caution when he said, “The sun is shining today, but it could rain tomorrow.” And yet, it is difficult to avoid the feeling that Simeone’s team will have to win at least seven of their remaining 10 matches and not lose against Barcelona.
It’s hard to judge who has the hardest dates, at first glance. Matches against Sevilla, Betis and Barcelona as visitors, suggest that maybe Atletico. Although the succession of Barcelona with matches against Madrid, Villarreal and Valencia as a visitor and Atlético as a local (Barcelona) is not easy either. Nor is that of Madrid; the whites still have local matches against Barcelona, Seville and Villarreal. If the three candidates achieve the same results against these teams as the last time they played against them, Atlético would finish with 94, Barcelona with 79 and Madrid with 83.
But these teams are no longer the same, the dates are at home when they had been visitors before and vice versa, and these teams are certainly not in the same condition. If during the next 10 matches of the three teams they add points with the same rhythm that they did in the last 10, prevailing the speed of exit, Barcelona would finish with 90, Atlético with 85 and Madrid with 83.
“I’ve told the players that the goal is important and it’s wonderful if you get it, but the journey is more important, it’s what matters most. What you enjoy most is walking the path,” Simeone said, though you probably won’t believe it. Instead, his other mantra remains: match to match.
Now there are 10 left, and the season is coming to the weeks where you can even forgive Zidane for his habit of calling each game a final. It is no longer so wrong; you lose and you stay out. Neither is the phrase, “It looks like people thought we would win the league by 15 or 20 points,” Simeone said. “I don’t know what to expect.”
Not that. But it is what it is. A league where before there was none.