In the Spanish "La Liga" championship, crucial 31st round matches were played on Saturday.
At "Camp Nou" stadium, "Barcelona" hosted Madrid's "Atletico" team. Diego Simeone's players in this duel were satisfied only with victory, but Diego Costa erased all work in the middle of the first half by earning a red card. "Atletico" held on for a long time in the match, but the Catalans still managed to break Jan Oblak's goal and practically secure their second consecutive country title.
Second-placed "Atletico" could have narrowed the gap to 5 points with a victory, but after losing to "Barca" they were allowed to escape by 11 points. There are seven matches left to play before the end of the championship, so the "La Liga" title is already in the hands of the Catalans.
"Atletico" started the match without any hesitation - the visitors from the capital understood the stakes of the match, so they did not hesitate to attack the Catalans who played in their own field.
The planned scenario for these matches was ruined by Diego Costa. In the 28th minute, the forward cursed the referee and, without much thought, took a red card. D. Costa was sent off the field, leaving "Atletico" to play with ten men in a very important duel.
Nevertheless, D. Simeone's players showed true character and played with eleven men against eleven at least until the 70th minute. "Barca" did not feel comfortable and had to do a lot of defensive work.
However, later the strength of "Atletico" began to wane, and as a result, in the 85th minute, the first goal fell. Luis Suarez unleashed a powerful shot from about 18 meters and Jan Oblak could not save the team this time.
Two minutes later, Lionel Messi scored another goal, sealing the final score. "Barcelona" celebrated a 2-0 victory.
Result:
"Barcelona" 2 - 0 "Atletico"
85' [1 - 0] L. Suarez
87' [2 - 0] L. Messi
Standings:
Starting line-ups:
"Barcelona": Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Pique, Lenglet, Jordi Alba; Busquets, Rakitic, Arthur; Messi, Suarez, Coutinho.
"Atletico": Oblak; Arias, Gimenez, Godin, Filipe Luis; Thomas, Rodrigo, Koke, Saul; Diego Costa, Griezmann.
