© EuroFootball.com
After the 2:2 draw between "Barcelona" and "Getafe" on Saturday at Camp Nou, Catalan footballers, speaking with journalists, unanimously declared that they no longer have a chance to defend the champions' titles won last year.
However, just 24 hours later, the dramatic events in the Spanish national championship left hopes, although small, for Gerardo Martino's players.
Currently, the leader in the championship is Madrid's "Atletico" with 88 points after playing 36 matches. One of the Champions League finalists will play at home with "Malaga" and away with "Barcelona".
In second place is the Catalan club with 85 points after 36 matches, but they must not forget that Madrid's "Real" not only lags behind by just 2 points but has played one less match. Carlo Ancelotti's team will play against "Real Valladolid" in the middle of the week in the postponed 34th round.
Mathematically, it is still possible for all three teams that still have hopes of winning the gold to finish with the same number of points - 89.
For this to happen: one "Real" loss and two wins (83 pts + 0 + 3 + 3), one "Barcelona" win and a draw in the last match against "Atletico" (85 pts + 3 + 1), and one "Atletico" loss and the mentioned draw with "Barcelona" (88 pts + 0 + 1).
If this were to happen, the Spanish league champion would be "Barcelona", as the winner in the national championships is first determined not by the number of goals scored and conceded but by the results of head-to-head matches. If three teams collect the same number of points, the results of all their head-to-head matches are calculated, and here the advantage clearly lies with the Catalans.
"Barcelona" won both matches against Madrid's "Real" - 2:1 at home and 4:3 away - earning 6 points. Add two draws with "Atletico" (the draws are hypothetical if all teams have 89 points). This is an additional 2 points. In total, "Barcelona", playing against "Real" and "Atletico", earned 8 points.
"Atletico" played two draws with "Barcelona" - 2 points. They drew 2:2 with "Real" once and defeated their opponents 1:0 once. This amounts to another 4 points in the "mattresses" account, earning a total of 6 points in matches with "Real" and "Barcelona".
Madrid's "Real" did not win against "Barcelona" in the Spanish league matches, suffered one loss against "Atletico", and played a draw once. This amounts to 1 point.
Therefore, in this case, the top of the Spanish Primera table would look like this: first - "Barcelona", second - Madrid's "Atletico", third - Madrid's "Real" footballers.
OTHER POSSIBLE SCENARIOS:
MADRID'S "ATLETICO"
- become champions if they win against "Malaga" and "Barcelona" with any result. Then Diego Simeone's players will have 94 points in their account and will be unstoppable.
- the team can play a draw and earn 92 points, which would also be enough for the championship gold. The same - 92 points - could also be collected by Madrid's "Real" if they win the remaining three matches, but the head-to-head result between "Real" and "Atletico" is unfavorable for Carlo Ancelotti's team. They lost 0:1 to "Atletico" and drew 2:2, so D. Simeone's team would be in first place.
- become champions if they beat "Malaga", "Barcelona" loses to "Elche", and Madrid's "Real" drops points in any of the three remaining matches.
- become champions if they play a draw with "Malaga" and win against "Barcelona". In this case, the result of "Real" matches is not important.
- become champions if they beat "Malaga" and play a draw with "Barcelona". In this case, the result of "Real" matches is not important.
"BARCELONA"
- become champions if they win both remaining matches against "Elche" and Madrid's "Atletico", and "Real" plays at least one draw in the remaining three matches.
- become champions if they win against "Elche" and play a draw against "Atletico", if "Atletico" loses to "Malaga", and Madrid's "Real" loses at least one of the remaining three matches.
MADRID'S "REAL"
- become champions if they win all three remaining matches and Madrid's "Atletico" lose to "Barca" at Camp Nou.
- become champions if they win all three remaining matches and Madrid's "Atletico" draw both matches with "Malaga" and "Barcelona"
- become champions if they win two matches and play one draw, and "Barcelona" beats "Atletico" at home, but in the 37th, penultimate round, "Barcelona" and "Atletico" must not win against "Elche" and "Malaga" respectively.
