It’s been a long season in La Liga, but the final matchday is upon us. Atletico Madrid will be travelling to the Jose Zorrilla on Saturday evening to take on relegation-battling Real Valladolid. The title is in their hands; if they win, no matter what Real Madrid do against Villarreal, La Liga is theirs.
Atletico, courtesy of Luis Suarez’s late winner against Osasuna last weekend, are top of the table going into the final game of the season. They’re two points clear of Madrid, seven clear of Barcelona and nine clear of Sevilla. Valladolid are fighting for their lives. Pucela sit 19th, two points behind Elche and Huesca. They need to win and hope results go their way to survive.
“We’re working to take care of the Valladolid game,” Diego Simeone said pre-game in comments carried by Marca. “With an opponent who has their own things to play for. We’re going to try to take the game where we can hurt them.
“It’s been a very long season in which we have all gone through many situations to get here. Now we find ourselves on the last day with two teams fighting for the title. This is La Liga.”
Atletico looked like they were going to run away with the title before Christmas, clearly the best in class for the first half of the season. Madrid got their act together post-Christmas, however, and Barcelona put together an incredible run of form only to collapse at the final hurdle. Simeone will be hoping his men can secure the second title of his reign tomorrow evening.
