A La Liga title race that nobody wants (or deserves) to win

A La Liga title race that nobody wants (or deserves) to win

Lluís Mascaró

Director de Información Deportiva de Prensa Ibérica

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Defeat by Granada has left painful consequences. The most serious is that La Liga is no longer in Barcelona’s hands. And another is that they could end up making Madrid champions. If they beat Atletico next week, it would put the title in Los Blancos’s hands. Surreal. They are consequences of a KO so surprising and unforgivable that it could end up wasting the good work done in the last five months. Although, luckily, it’s still open. There are five weeks to go, five finals, and they look hard. The three main candidates (and watch out for Sevilla, who are just a point behind), have shown their weaknesses. All have slipped up at one moment or another. And could keep doing so. The blow by Granada, when everyone imagined Barca would go top with a win, could be a big psychological problem. Koeman: “We are disappointed.” Alba: “This is fucked.” De Jong: “We are very sad.” Not to speak of the downcast faces in the dressing room after the game. But that’s logical. An amazing effort to reel Atletico in from 12 points behind could end up serving for nothing.

But even though Barcelona no longer depend on themselves, it’s not over. Madrid are being held together at the seams and have a UCL semi-final against Chelsea. And Atletico have shown how they are collapsing. The feeling is that this is a league that nobody deserves to win and it will end up being won by the team that is least bad. 

We’ll see how Atletico respond today at Elche, and Real Madrid at home against Osasuna comes after that. I’m convinced that anything can happen.

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