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The race for the title in La Liga: Barça at the foot of the wall

2021-05-13T00:50:53.353Z


FC Barcelona failing to win at Camp Nou last Saturday against Atlético de Madrid no longer has their fate in their hands and must win all their matches, hoping for a failure of the first two. The final sprint will start on Tuesday (10 p.m.) in a match at Levante.


The failure against Atlético as a farewell to the title

FC Barcelona have not won any confrontation against their two rivals Real Madrid and Atlético this season, having taken only one point out of 12 possible. For its part, Real managed to take 10 out of 12. Faced with an Atléti yet in full doubt who has not been able to chain since the beginning of February, Koeman's men ran out of ideas, offensively dominated by those of Simeone in first half (9 shots against 3 for Barça). Having reversed the trend in the second half (9 shots against 2 for Atléti), Barça and Messi fell against a great Jan Oblak, who responded well to Ter Stegen.

The match had two facets: a first period of strong sterile Barcelona possession, then possession is balanced but Barça still cannot find the net.

The Colchoneros, unaccustomed to holding the ball, did not manage to be dangerous either.

Koeman therefore suffers another setback against a team playing "low block", which had already caused problems for his team on several occasions.

The players seemed tired and couldn't get enough movement between the lines.

Where usually Barça excels.

Little hope remains

In this draw, Atlético did not take just one point and only remains first by a short lead (77 points). Barça are only two points behind (with 75 points) and can hope for a misstep from the capital club. This Sunday, Real Madrid also left hope for the Catalans. Drawn against Sevilla (2-2) at home, they left the first place to their local rival while they had the opportunity to pass in the event of victory with the particular goal difference (74 points before the match, a draw and a victory against Atléti). Sevilla them do not officially say to La Liga, but at 6 points of Atlético, it would take a series of failures from all the contenders to return.

Faced with Levante who has nothing more to play, Koeman's men must ensure and win at all costs. A loss would complete the Blaugrana's title dreams. In the first leg, the Catalans had to rely on a feat of Leo Messi late in the game to win 1-0. It is a completely different Barça which will present itself to Levante for the return match, with its device in 3-5-2, more certainties and above all the desire to still believe in the title, as Gérard Piqué reminded us in the after the match against the Colchoneros on Saturday.

Having a priori the easiest schedule compared to Atléti and Real, Barça can hope that they leave points.

But in this La Liga where no one seems to want the title, it is not impossible that the suspense will continue for the next three days.

Appointment therefore for the first act, Tuesday at 10 p.m.

The calendars of the three title contenders for the last three La Liga matches:

Atlético de Madrid: Reception of Real Sociedad (Wednesday 12 at 10 p.m.), reception of Osasuna (Sunday 16 at 6.30 p.m.) and trip to Valladolid (Sunday 23 at 6 p.m.)

Real Madrid: Trip to Granada (Thursday 13 at 10 p.m.), trip to Bilbao (Sunday 16 at 6.30 p.m.) and reception at Villarreal (Sunday 23 at 6 p.m.)

FC Barcelona: Trip to Levante (Tuesday 11 at 10 p.m.), reception of Celta Vigo (Sunday 16 at 6.30 p.m.) and trip to Eibar (Sunday 23 at 6 p.m.)

Seville FC: Valencia reception (Wednesday 12 at 7 p.m.), trip to Villarreal (Sunday 16 at 6.30 p.m.) and reception of Alaves (Sunday 23 at 6 p.m.)

Read also

  • Real Madrid narrowly come off against Sevilla but miss opportunity to take the lead

Source: lefigaro

All sports articles on 2021-05-13

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