With four rounds to go in La Liga Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid remain in top spot, two points clear of their rivals, and they won’t give that position up without a mammoth fight.
Los Rojiblancos have led for much of the season but have been reeled in by Real Madrid and Barcelona in recent weeks as the La Liga 2021 betting odds have swung back and forth, in the Catalans’ favour until they suffered a shock defeat to Granada at the Camp Nou on Thursday night.
Atletico took advantage with a clinical performance to win away to Elche on Saturday, while Real Madrid beat Osasuna at home to stay in contention. With Barcelona and Sevilla still to play we could see a four horse race gathering pace in the most exciting of all Europe’s leagues. There will be twists and turns to come and here at SBOTOP we’ll be there every step of the way as the final few La Liga 2021 results roll in.
At the bottom end of the table there is just as much drama to come, with five teams in serious danger of dropping through the trapdoor.
Simeone can count on Llorente
When Luis Suarez switched from Barcelona to Atletico Madrid last summer, eyebrows were raised in both Catalonia and the capital city as both parties wondered how it might work out. Well, Los Rojiblancos have been the beneficiaries as the Uruguayan hit man has made a huge contribution to their title bid, scoring 19 goals from 28 games.
But Diego Simeone must be delighted by the form of midfielder turned attacker Marcos Llorente who, under the guidance of his boss, has adapted his style play to pose a bigger goal threat, and he is joint eighth top scorer in the league with 12 strikes. Notably he’s scored one more than Barcelona’s Antoine Griezmann.
Not only has Llorente bagged a dozen goals, but he is second on the list of top assist makers in La Liga with ten, ahead of Lionel Messi and just one behind Celta Vigo’s talisman Iago Aspas.
The 26 year old scored the 23rd minute winner away to Elche to win three invaluable points; they were almost snatched away when the hosts were awarded an injury time penalty, but Fidel hit the post and Elche stay 19th.
This could be a spectacular season for Los Blancos
Real Madrid have quietly gone about their business over the past few weeks while Atleti led the way and Barcelona looked the most likely to chase them down. But with four games to play Los Blancos are just two points behind. Next up they play the form team Sevilla and if they can win that then they have a real chance of going all the way. And they are also in the last four of Europe’s premier competition. With a Champions League semi-final second leg to come, Los Blancos are level at 1-1 with Chelsea at the half way stage and, with Sergio Ramos returning to fitness, head coach Zinedine Zidane will be hopeful of adding another Champions League title to the three he won in his last stint as boss at the Bernabeu.
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane during their match against Osasuna
Back in La Liga, Real had to be patient to see off Osasuna, with the lion’s share of possession and registering 22 shots to Osasuna’s three, they had to wait until the 76th minute before Eder Militao broke the deadlock. Casemiro added a second four minutes later and Los Blancos got their deserved victory.
There are four teams still in the title race; Barcelona face a tough test at the Mestalla away to Valencia on Sunday night and Sevilla are in action on Monday night against Athletic Bilbao.
This title race will go down to the wire and Real Madrid could still end up picking up the big two prizes.
Eibar still fighting
Since achieving promotion to the Primera Division for the fist time in 2014 Eibar have held their own, with two top ten positions over the past seven campaigns and a comfortable 14th placed finish last term. But they are really up against it this season, rock bottom and with a fight on their hands with just four games to go.
But the Basque club have given themselves a chance following a 3-0 win over relegation rivals Alaves. 31year old striker Kike scored a hat-trick as Eibar took Alaves apart at Ipura on Saturday afternoon to earn a first win in five games. They are still five points from safety, on 26 points, but with 12 to play for they have given themselves a chance. Huesca and Elche are four ahead, while Real Valladolid and Alaves are just above the drop zone on 31 points.
Eibar travel to 15th placed Getafe next and they still have 14th placed Valencia to play so there are points to be had, but with Real Betis and Barcelona in their fixture list it will be a great escape if they can pull it off. SD Huesca are battling hard too, beating Real Sociedad 1-0 thanks to a late own goal courtesy of Aritz Elustondo.
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The post La Liga: Atleti Still In The Box Seat appeared first on SBOTOP.