It’s not every time that the La Liga title race goes down to the wire. It happened a couple of years ago when Atletico Madrid surprised everyone by winning the prestigious league on the final day by holding Barcelona to a 1-1 draw.
Unlike the 2013-14 season, this season was supposed to be a one-sided affair when Barcelona were cruising their way to glory with a 39-match winning streak. At one point, they were leading the ten-time European champions by 12 points and Atletico Madrid by 11 points.
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But after all these, there was a twist in the tale for the fans. Real Madrid ended Barcelona’s winning streak at the Camp Nou and since then, the Catalans have lost to Real Sociedad, Valencia and got their mojo back in their last two matches as they put 8 past Deportivo and 6 past Sporting Gijon.
This is how the La Liga table looks after 35 matches:
And in the same time, both the Madrid clubs won all their matches and added pressure on Barcelona. With just a point separating the top three teams, this La Liga season is going all the way down to the wire.
Let us take a look at what’s in store for the three teams and who are the favourites to go all the way to glory at the end of the season.
Barcelona
Barcelona are currently at the top with a better Head-to-Head record over Atletico Madrid and they will be facing Real Betis at the Benito Villamarin followed by the Catalan derby against Espanyol at home and Granada away.
The Blaugrana have an advantage of having a full-strength squad courtesy their ouster from the UEFA Champions League, something which both the Madrid clubs won’t have, thanks to the mid-week Champions League semi-finals.
Facing Real Betis away might not be an easy one for Barcelona as they are yet to win at the Benito Villamarin since 2005. With Leo Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez at their top of their game, this will be the right time for Barcelona to stop their bad run at Real Betis’ home.
Facing Espanyol at the Camp Nou will be an easy task for Barcelona and facing relegation-threatened Granada on the final day of the league could be tricky as they will give everything to cement their position in the league next season.
Atletico Madrid
Who would have thought that Atletico Madrid has the chance of completing a double this season? They are level on points with Barcelona at the top of the table and have Rayo Vallecano at home, bottom-placed Levante away and Celta Vigo at home in their last three matches.
Rayo Vallecano gave a scare to Real Madrid last week as they threw away a 2-0 lead to lose the match 2-3. They were not up to their mark this season as they were just 2 points away from the relegation zone.
Levante are likely to be relegated from La Liga as they are languishing at the bottom of the La Liga table. They will hope to end their season on a high but beating Atletico will be a huge task for Les Granotes.
Celta Vigo are in contention for a Europa League spot and they travel to the Vicente Calderon to face Atletico Madrid in the last league game for both the sides. Simeone’s men are known to grind out results in big matches and are likely to do the same against Os Celestes.
Real Madrid
If someone has said that Real Madrid will be in contention for a double (including La Liga which we last won in the 2011-12 season) in January, I would have laughed them off. In spite of being a Real Madrid fan, I didn’t expect Los Blancos to be in contention to win the league with just three matches to go.
In the last three matches, Real travel to Anoeta to face Real Sociedad, host Valencia and play Deportivo away in the final match of the league. A win on the final day of the league is all but assured but the other two matches are quite tricky for the ten-time European champions.
Just a couple of weeks back, La Real beat Barcelona at home, which proves that traveling to Anoeta is always tricky. With Karim Benzema already ruled out, Cristiano Ronaldo doubtful and Zinedine Zidane expected to rest few of his regular starters keeping the mid-week Champions League semi-finals in mind, Real Madrid have their task cut out when they take on Real Sociedad tomorrow.
Facing Valencia has been a problematic fixture for Real Madrid as the Oranges have a history of troubling them in crunch games. Even in the last two seasons, a draw against Valencia shut down Real Madrid’s hopes of winning the league.
Possibilities
In case all the three teams end up on the same points, the team with a better head-to-head against the other two will be crowned as champions. If this scenario turns reality on May 15, then Real Madrid will finish third, thanks to poor head-to-head record against the other two teams.
Among Barcelona and Atletico, the defending La Liga champions have a better Head-to-Head record.
For Real Madrid to win the league, they should hope that they win all the remaining matches and hope Barcelona and Atletico Madrid draw/lose at least one match.
For Atletico to win, they have to win all their three matches and expect Barcelona to drop points which means, both the Madrid clubs (if Real win all the three matches) will finish above Barcelona.
For Barcelona to retain the title, they just need to win all their matches.
Final verdict: Among all the three teams, Atletico Madrid have an easier set of fixtures. With equal points as Barcelona and a one-point lead over Real Madrid, it is safe to put your money on the Rojiblancos to go all the way to glory in La Liga in spite of Barcelona having a better head-to-head over them.
