Drama, fight, and late goals: The story of how Atletico Madrid won La Liga

Atletico Madrid have had to go through real adversity to triumph and win La Liga, note Marca. It’s been a long road. Diego Simeone’s men were on the verge of losing their lead several times throughout the final stretch, but held firm.

Atletico beat Alaves at Mendizorroza by the skin of their teeth, for example. Luis Suarez scored but they needed Jan Oblak to pull off a spectacular save to stop Joselu from equalising. They also had the fortune of Barcelona, despite being the form team in the country, losing at home to Granada when a win would have seen them unseat Atletico and go top.

Against Elche, Atletico again squeaked past. Marcos Llorente conceded a penalty in the 91st minute, but the spot kick cannoned off the post to save Atletico’s skin. At Valdebebas, Sevilla did Atletico a massive favour by drawing with Real Madrid; if they had lost, Los Blancos would have gone top following Atletico’s scoreless draw at Camp Nou the previous day.

Atletico went 2-0 against Real Sociedad and looked comfortable, only for a late response from the Basques to set up a nervy finish; Los Rojiblancos held out, however. Osasuna was the ultimate drama. Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao in a simultaneous game, and it took a late winner from Suarez to rescue Atletico’s title bid and go into the final day with the title in their hands.

Real Valladolid was a similar story. Atletico conceded first to an Oscar Plano goal, but fought back thanks to strikes from Angel Correa and Suarez. The club have now won eleven league titles, ten of which have been won on the final day of the season. They don’t do things the easy way at the Wanda Metropolitano.

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