Russian roulette for LaLiga's top three
The league title appeared to be destined for Barcelona until they complicated life with a poor run of results taking just one point from a possible twelve. They are tied on points with Atlético and have a point advantage over Real Madrid. This is how the top of the table has looked for the past three weeks as we head into the penultimate round of matches. In the past three 'jornadas' the top three have won every game bit haven't been convincing in the way one would expect from a title contender. Every game has been tense with each side knowing that a slip-up would see them out of the race. Yesterday someone reminded me that it's not dissimilar to the horrific image of Russian roulette. Each candidate takes a shot and then passes the pistol to their rivals.
The first of the past three games was a mid-week series of fixtures with an almost simultaneous kick-off time but the last two series of games have seen a running order of Madrid, Atlético and Barça. In this way Madrid, start their game in third place and have momentarily been able to go top with Barça going into their respective game in third place, retaining top spot the moment they go in front. The 'in-betweener' Atlético, have leapfrogged between first, second and third places but at the end of the matches, all three sides are back where they started. It certainly has been exciting but at this point it appears that the chamber maybe empty with no bullet in the gun.
On a personal level, I see Madrid as the most solid side of the three, they seem to suffer less but it's clear that they need the others to slip-up. Atlético have managed to squeeze three points from their games in the traditional Simeone style. They won against Athletic and Bayern as they did against the likes of Málaga or Rayo, a solitary goal, on the ropes but ultimately winning out. Barça look like a team suffering fatigue but they can count on Messi's distribution and the ruthless finishing of Luis Suárez. It's whats left of the MSN but it's appears to be sufficient to help them over the line despite their suitors also winning too.
