Atlético Madrid havedone it. A
year after they went to the Santiago Bernabéu and took the Copa del Rey from
Real Madrid, they came here and took the league title from FC Barcelona. It is
their first in 18 years. Next they travel to Lisbon to play their first
European Cup final for 40 years. What Diego Simeone and his side have achieved
is barely believable. Barcelona's supporters recognised the magnitude of what
they had witnessed: when the final whistle went here, they immediately broke
into applause.
Spain suffered a collective
coronary as the season headed into the final minutes of the final day with a
single moment sufficient to change the destiny of the title. Barcelona's
goalkeeper, José Pinto, was even up for a corner that almost dropped his way.
But in the end Diego Godín's header from a corner was enough to clinch a 1-1
draw that means that for the first time in a decade Spain has a champion that
is not Real Madrid or Barcelona.
Simeone's side have taken on the
duopoly and defeated it. This is a monumental achievement: not only has it been
10 years since someone else won the title, the nearest anyone has been over the
last five years was 24, 39, 25, 28 and 17 points. Atlético finished this season
three points ahead. They came into the final game needing at least a draw as
for the third time two contenders faced each other on the last day with the
title in play.
All season, the question had been
asked: could Atlético really win the title? Now, incredibly, they have. They
did it the hard way. The clock showed 94.04 when, on the penultimate weekend,
Adrian López's shot was turned away by the outstretched hand of Willy
Caballero. A goal would have given them the title.
Instead, they had to avoid defeat
here. Barcelona, who had given up on the league, had benefited from an
extraordinary run of results and now had their fate in their own hands. At home
too.
A case could be made for this
being, a priori, the biggest Spanish league struggle in history. Here was a
chance for Atlético to break up a decade-long duopoly, while setting themselves
up for a second European Cup final, and it was the third time that two
contenders had come face to face on the final day. In 1946 Sevilla had gone to
Barcelona and in 1951 Atlético had gone to Sevilla. Both times a 1-1 draw had
clinched the title for the away team.
It was not easy. Atlético lost
their top scorer, Diego Costa, in tears in the first half and then Arda Turán
departed sadly too. Then, out of nothing, Barcelona had the lead. Cesc
Fábregas's clipped pass into the area reached Lionel Messi, whose chest-pass
found Alexis Seanchez.
The Chilean caught the ball as it
bounced up and thumped a shot of implausible power and precision that rocketed
past Thibaut Courtois and into the top corner by the near post. Classic
Atlético, some concluded. Maybe that jinx had not been definitively laid to
rest, after all.
Perhaps not. This was the first
time Barcelona had taken the lead in the five meetings between them this season
and momentarily, it felt like the end. Barcelona would exercise control while
Atlético could not fail to be crushed by the misfortune.
Barely an inch away six days ago,
now they had lost two men and trailed by a goal that was a lightning bolt with
no sign of the storm.
Atlético, though, responded;
there is heart in this team and lots of it. There is head too. The intelligence
with which they play is too often overlooked. In the final minutes of the half
Atlético pushed Barcelona back, swift into tackles, quick to move the ball and
accurate with it.
With every delivery into the
area, there were nerves. José Pinto is a goalkeeper who makes saves, but not
one who inspires confidence.
One corner squirmed from his
hands and led to another as the pressure built. The first had come when Dani
Alves had to intervene with Adrián arriving at the far post. Raul García's shot
was then blocked.
The second half began with a
David Villa shot flying back off the post, then appeared to be in only to be
tackled. From a corner on the right, Diego Godín leapt and headed powerful down
and into the corner. It was a familiar sight: with 12, Atlético had now scored
more from dead balls than anyone else.
Messi had the ball in the net but
it was ruled out for offside. On came Neymar, the only Barcelona player to have
scored against Atlético this season, and the noise rose. Atlético were forced
backwards.
It was going to be a long
half-hour but they resisted superbly. Courtois pushed Alves's shot over and
Gerard Piqué went forward as the No9. But only one centre-back was destined to
score here: Godín's header means that Atlético Madrid are champions for the
first time in 18 years.
There was no trophy handed out, because the
president of the Spanish Football Federation could not make it here, but
Atlético will not care.
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