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Barcelona 0-0 Atletico Madrid: La Liga title race heating up

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La Liga title race opens wide as Barcelona and Atletico Madrid suffered a massive blow on Saturday as they played out a 0-0 draw at the Camp Nou. Both the teams created a fair few chances throughout the game but were unable to seize the opportunities in what was a crucial contest for both teams.

Atletico Madrid temporarily stay at the top of the La Liga standings but could lose their spot to Real Madrid by the end of the week. Barcelona remain two points away from the top of the table and will now need to win all the remaining fixtures to win the league title.

Both Barcelona and Atletico Madrid fans will now keep their eyes wide open for the Real Madrid against Sevilla fixture on Monday, as because if Real Madrid win they will go to the table with points tied to Atletico Madrid.

Barcelona 0-0 Atletico Madrid: Team News

Barcelona started the match with the 3-1-4-2  formation, and they made only one change in the line-up that beat Valencia during week as Oscar Mingueza replaced Ronald Araujo in the backline, Sergio Dest was also included in the playing eleven despite being doubtful for the match because of injury.

Atletico Madrid started the match with the formation 3-4-2-1, but with two changes in the line-up from the previous match as Koke replaced Geoffrey Kondogbia in the midfield and Felipe replaced Jose Gimenez in the backline.

Barcelona 0-0 Atletico Madrid: Post Match Analysis

Atletico were clearly the better team in the first half. There were two injuries in the first half each for both teams. Barca were really bad with their gameplay and Atletico were always dangerous when they got the ball back, and that was the pattern for the entire period.

There were two big chances in the half, one for each team. First, Hermoso was released down the left and found Correa with a cross inside the box for what seemed like an easy goal, but Lenglet made an amazing tackle to stop the Argentine.

The other chance came on a ridiculous run by Lionel Messi, who turned back the clock and carried the ball 40 yards while dribbling past everyone in sight, and his shot was destined for the back of the net before a brilliant save by Oblak.

The start of the second half was more of the same, with Atletico in complete control. It was only in the final 30 minutes that the Catalans started to play with more urgency, but that’s when they ran into Jan Oblak, who made important saves throughout the last half-hour.

The absolute best chance of the game came with five minutes to go when Jordi Alba played a perfect cross to find Ousmane Dembele all alone for a free header inside the six-yard box, but the Frenchman headed the ball over the bar and wasted a golden opportunity.

There was a free-kick in the 90th minute that Lionel Messi just missed, with the ball going agonizingly wide of the top corner. The final whistle came, and Barca’s season is almost over barring a miracle.

Notable Performances:

Marc ter Stegen and Jan Oblack: Both the goalkeeper was phenomenal with their saves and held the match for a draw.

Yannick Carrasco (MOTM): He was the main attacking power Atletico had, as he was good with his in behind runs and created couple of chances for scoring a goal.

Lionel Messi: The team’s biggest threat as always. Came close on a couple of free kicks, showed tremendous hustle defensively.

Luis Suarez: The team’s biggest threat in attack. Had four shots, three on the frame, but none felt like great opportunities.

Barcelona next face away Levante fixture on 12th May and Atletico Madrid host Real Sociedad on 13th May to keep title race on.

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