Athletico Madrid Ends Barcelona's Unbeaten Runs

Pin It Now! I was completely speechless as I watched Atletico Madrid post 2 great goals into the yawning net of Barcelona FC to end their unbeaten runs in this current league season. Barca had gone unbeaten in 22 matches in this current campaign, but all that came to an end yesterday courtesy of fantastic, artistic soccer display and determination of the Madrid players.

The match had started on a fair note for both teams, with the players showing the classic flair characteristic of the Spanish football. I was confident Josep Guardiola’s boys would win the match even though I knew that the Athletico Madrid players were no push-over. I had given the match to Barca based on their current form and record (22 matches without a loss) and felt the result was not going to be different from what we had seen in their past matches. Surprisingly, the Madrid boys struck first before the 10th minute of the match making me feel a little tensed for the first time. Before I knew it they were already 2 goals up; and from that moment Barcelona’s fate hanged in the balance. All effort to sustain their record was futile as they were only able to pull one back.

Ibrahimovic (though scored their only goal) and Lionel Messi were wasteful in front of Madrid’s goal giving their goal keeper little or nothing to worry about. It was quite unlike FC Barcelona. Guardiola watched in utter disbelief as the referee blew final whistle to signify that the match had indeed been won by Athletico. By this record the gap between FC Barcelona and real Madrid has now been reduced to just 2 points, meaning that Barcelona has to do everything possible to ensure they do not lose any match again if they must keep their hope of winning the league this season alive.

Real Madrid had earlier on Saturday beaten Xerex by 3-0 in an away match to signal a warning to Barca of their intent to win the LaLiga this season. The tension in Barcelona FC is rising as Real Madrid close the gap on them. Real players are very hungry for victory this time, especially after the club has invested much on great players like Christiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Kaka, Xavi Alonso, etc. The battle at the top is clearly between Barcelona and Real Madrid. A little more has to be done to maintain the top spot and be sure that at the end of the season they have some trophies to add to their previous ones even though they are not able to win the six which they did the last season.

Athletico Madrid Ends Barcelona's Unbeaten Runs