Chronicle Atlético escapes from Villamarín with a point, the leadership and several disappointments
Barcelona The sins of Koeman
Real Madrid The flood, the tension and Toni Kroos
19 years ago, the
League
reached its
30th matchday
with seven teams on six points.
Madrid and Valencia led the standings with 53, followed by Deportivo, Betis, Celta and Athletic, while Barcelona was seventh with 47. Other times and other leagues.
The championship has been changing and has become an eternal fight between
Madrid and Barça
with the
Atlético
company
in recent years.
This was the case in the
13-14 season
, which on matchday 30 watched the rojiblancos with 73 points, the Catalans with 72 and the whites with 70. The title would go to
Simeone's men
, but everything was decided in that last match in the
Camp Nou
.
Today, six years later, the League has its
most even ranking in almost two decades
.
He did not have three teams in only two points at this stage of the championship since 02-03 with
Madrid, Deportivo and Real Sociedad
at 61 and 60 points.
Madridistas and culés tied at 77 and 65 in 09-10 and 19-20, but without a third at their side.
They have been two years in a row with an even title, far from the 13 points that Barça took from Madrid on matchday 30 of 12-13.
It's
41 days
, it's almost six weeks, it's eight days with advantages and disadvantages in all three cases.
Atlético de Madrid: the calendar as an argument
Upcoming rivals
: Eibar (C), Huesca (C), Athletic (F), Elche (F), Barça (F), Real Sociedad (C), Osasuna (C) and Valladolid (F).
At the end of January,
Atlético's 50 points
in just 19 games played improved Mourinho's La Liga record of Madrid's records (100 points and 121 goals) and put the fight for the championship under lock and key.
Simeone's men had an
11-point advantage
, but a few days later that difference has been in the red: one with Madrid and two with Barcelona.
Atlético has suffered several cases of Covid-19 in its squad and right now has
Luis Suárez and Joao Félix
in the infirmary, but the Metropolitan's team can show a bit of a smile when looking at the
calendar
, the most affordable of the three candidates to the title.
The average points of Atlético's rivals in these last eight days is now 35.75, compared to 39.25 for Barça and 40.75 for Madrid.
The colchoneros have duels against
Eibar
(two draws in the last three visits to Madrid),
Huesca, Elche, Valladolid
(0-0 last year) and
Osasuna
, teams from the lower zone, Athletic (two matches in a row without winning in Bilbao) and
two key games
: the trip to Camp Nou and the match against
Real at home
.
Both in just four days, May 8 and 12.
In the last five
Barça-Atlético
, Simeone's men have drawn three draws, while the champion cupbearer managed a 1-1 at Wanda last summer.
"All teams have a moment of irregularity and hopefully we have passed it after this draw," said Simeone on Sunday.
The schedule, at least, is downhill.
Real Madrid: "on the edge", but with good inertia
Upcoming rivals
: Getafe (F), Cádiz (F), Betis (C), Osasuna (C), Sevilla (C), Granada (F), Athletic (F) and Villarreal (C).
The
Madrid
has been going up
positions in the
league while expired matches in Champions and players piled up in the infirmary.
A streak of six consecutive wins, 11 in 13 games, which has taken
Zidane's
team
"
to the limit physically
", as the Frenchman recognized on Saturday.
The whites have
not lost since January 30
, at home against Levante, but the injuries of
Ramos and Lucas
, the positive for Covid-19 of
Varane
, the annoyances of
Fede Valverde
and the absences of
Dani Carvajal
have responded to that positive inertia
and Hazard
.
As if that were not enough, and whatever happens on Wednesday in Liverpool, Madrid will not have it easy in the League because their calendar is the worst of the three candidates.
"You don't have to look at that", judges
Fernando Morientes
, a former Madrid footballer: "
Now the emotional aspect prevails
, it is decisive."
Some of the best teams of the second league echelon will pass through Valdebebas:
Betis, Sevilla and Villarreal
.
The Verdiblancos tied at the Bernabéu last year and
Emery's men
won in 2018. Sevilla, dangerous and respected, has not scored in the merengue fiefdom since 2008. “Madrid can be influenced by the Champions League.
For me, Barça is the favorite
», sums up Francisco Pavón, a former merengue player.
The most complicated flight for Zidane's men will be on the penultimate round, to
Bilbao
, where they have only won once in the last three seasons.
Before that they will have to overcome the visits to
Getafe and Cádiz
, the latter as revenge after the victory of the Andalusians in the first leg.
"Right now I do see Madrid capable of winning everything," he concludes.
FC Barcelona: Atlético's visit, key
Upcoming rivals
: Getafe (C), Villarreal (F), Granada (C), Valencia (F), Atlético (C), Levante (F), Celta (C) and Eibar (F).
Barcelona had achieved
40 out of 42
possible
points
before stepping on Di Stéfano and had risen to the lead, but the defeat of
Valdebebas
makes the Catalans no longer depend on themselves to be champions and gives the
final
character to
the duel against him Atlético at the Camp Nou
.
Barça has been scoring 65 points in matchday 30 for two seasons in a row, their worst score at this point since the 2007-08 campaign (58).
A drama that, together with the elimination in the
Champions League
and at the expense of the
Copa del Rey final
, leaves the League as the only option to win a title.
Right now, those 65 points serve him to be two of Atlético: "It is even because
none of the three is at a high level
", admits to EL MUNDO
Carles Rexach
, ex-Barcelona coach.
Last year, Barça missed the League in the last eight games.
"
If they win all eight, Barça is champion
... But I don't see any of the three winning all of them," he reflects.
A calendar that this year has as more complicated places
Villarreal
, where it tied in 2019, and Valencia, where it fell last year.
The Ché team also managed to draw a draw from the Camp Nou in the first leg of this season.
Then, in just a month, the reception will arrive at Atlético.
The final of the League will be completed with a visit to
Levante
, a home game against
Celta
and a trip to
Eibar
, on a schedule that offers rivals who currently have an average of 39.25 points.
"
There will be a League until the end,
" concludes Rexach.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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