La Liga 2016/17: Real Madrid 1-1 Atletico Madrid: 5 Talking Points

2. Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid have rediscovered what it is like to be Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid. Sort of.

For the first 80 odd minutes, Diego Simeone’s side looked nothing like a Diego Simeone side. They were sloppy in defence, misplaced simple passes both at the back and in midfield, and were wasteful when the odd opportunity came along at the other end. Real Madrid looked like they could score with every attack they mounted, and it took some exceptional back-to-the-walls awesomeness from Jan Oblak (the no. of saves he made, especially off Ronaldo and Benzema. Phew!), Stevan Savic (that headed clearance off the goalline from Ronaldo’s shot was along worth the entrance fee) and Diego Godin (he threw himself about in the grandest traditions of Carles Puyol and John Terry) to ensure they didn’t.

And then in the last ten minutes, the tide turned – Atletico were relentless, they won tackles, fouls went their way, they won second balls, they passed it accurately, and they took the one clear-cut chance they got with ruthless precision.

The first bit was the Atletico of the early season when at times it looked like they’d finish outside the top 5. The last bit was the one we’ve been seeing in 2017, the one we’ve been seeing in March. With 62 points from 31 games, they sit a fair few points behind their cross-town neighbours and Barcelona, but are a point above Sevilla and look like they’ve mad third spot their own.