Spanish La Liga title is always known to be a two-horse race involving Real Madrid and FC Barcelona but any season the two clubs fail to come to the party, Atletico Madrid take over.
The 2020-2021 season seems to be one of those seasons Atletico Madrid will have to be the difference between the traditional winners of the La Liga title – Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. Since the commencement of this season, Atletico Madrid have shown that they are set to do nothing but to win the La Liga title once again.
The last time Atletico Madrid won the title was at the end of the 2013-2014 season. Since then, the best the club has gotten is a second-place finish. That trend might end this season as the club’s coach Diego Simeone has proven that he has all it takes to grab the league title from the perennial winners.
On Tuesday, January 12, Atletico Madrid proved that they are set to win their 11th La Liga title this season by beating in-form Sevilla 2-0 to maintain a comfortable lead on the league table. The victory sent Sevilla down to the 6th spot on the league table with 30 points in 17 league games.
Recall that on November 21, Atletico Madrid beat FC Barcelona 1-0 in the league to prove how serious they are to win the title. The only club that has defeated them is Real Madrid but the 2-0 defeat they suffered on December 12 didn’t affect Atletico’s standing on the league table.
Currently, coach Diego Simeone and his boys are topping the league with 41 points in 16 league games, four points more than second-placed Real Madrid, and 7 points more than third-placed FC Barcelona.
The interesting part of Atletico Madrid’s title race is that the club has two outstanding games despite leading the league table 4 points more than the second-placed team.
As it stands, if Atletico Madrid win their two outstanding games, they will top the league table with a whopping 47 points in 18 games, 10 points more than Real Madrid, and 14 points more than FC Barcelona.
So far this season, the La Liga table-toppers have recorded 13 wins, two draws, and just a defeat in their last 16 league games. Their next La Liga game is against 15th placed Eibar. The game is scheduled for January 21 at 21:30. A win in the match will keep Atletico more comfortable at the top of the table and make Real Madrid’s title defense more difficult.
Meanwhile, one exciting talking point in the Atletico Madrid game against Sevilla was that Diego Simeone featured his embattled defender Kieran Trippier for the first time since FIFA lifted his 10-weeks match ban on January 3, 2020.
The 30-year-old English defender who helped Atletico to end Sevilla’s 10 games unbeaten run with an assist was banned by the English FA on December 23, 2020, for violating betting rules while playing for Tottenham Hotspur in 2019. His Spanish club appealed the ban and FIFA suspended it temporarily pending the outcome of the appeal.
Nice one, mate 😇
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) January 12, 2021
🔴⚪ #AúpaAtleti pic.twitter.com/mtvHgLVFEj
