Will Atletico Madrid finally put an end to the dominance of Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona and finally win another La Liga after seven years of waiting?
More than just winning the domestic league, Atletico would achieve something far more incredible if it ends the season as La Liga champions.
This century, only two clubs not named Real Madrid and Barcelona have lifted the Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera Division.
These are Valencia in 2003-04 and Atletico in 2013-14.
This century, Los Blancos have won the league seven times, while the Blaugrana, 10 times.
With still two games in hand, Diego Simeone’s Atletico leads in the latest La Liga standings with 41 points, followed by Real Madrid (37 pts.), and Barcelona (32 pts.), with Real Sociedad and Sevilla not far behind.
But the season is barely halfway and it remains a big question mark whether Atletico can sustain its current winning form.
By far it has won 13 matches, including a win over Barcelona, drawn two, and lost one, against city rivals Real Madrid.
The Los Rojiblancos will next face Eibar away on Friday, Jan. 22, then face fourth place Valencia, which it beat last November, on Monday, Jan. 25.
Forwards Luis Suarez and Joao Felix, alongside midfielder Marcos Llorente, lead Atletico’s potent attack.
Suarez has scored nine goals in the La Liga so far, while Felix has tallied five and Llorente six.
The Uruguayan star has a point to make after Barcelona’s new head coach Ronald Koeman told him earlier in the season that he was no longer needed in the club.
He was supposed to join Cristiano Ronaldo at Juventus but the move didn’t materialize, and ended up instead signing a two-year contract with a more low-profile but deadly efficient club.
It seems that Barca and Juve’s loss is Atletico’s gain, as Suarez is proving to be a crucial cog in the club’s quest for glory.
Diego Simeone couldn’t
be happier.
Simeone took over Atletico in 2011 and three years later, steered the club to a La Liga triumph to disrupt the Barca-Real football show.
It’s been a long wait for Atletico to regain this most elusive of titles.
Spanish football deserves an Atletico win.