FC Barcelona are the Spanish Champions !!

Hello everyone,

The La Liga clincher came with a great result at the home of the outgoing Champions, Vicente Calderon. Fate had it that Barca reclaim the Liga title at Atletico's ground after they had lost it to the same opposition, on this very day last season, at the Camp Nou. All in all, Barca clinched the Spanish Premiera Division title with a game to spare with a 1-0 win. This is Barca's 23rd Liga title overall. Barca could have won the title with a win in their home ground next weekend, but it was only fitting that they did it against Atletico and even more fittingly it was Leo Messi's goal that decided the game and title in Barca's favor. 

Atletico threatened to score with every single attack of their's early on in the match as they seemed determined to not let Barca go home with title. It took a really sharp Claudio Bravo to twart Atletico from scoring early on as the Barca keeper made a couple of outstanding saves to deny them the lead. Bravo thoroughly, thoroughly deserves the Zamora Trophy handed out to the best keeper in a La Liga season. He has been phenomenal for Barca this season. As the game wore on, Barca slowly managed o control the tempo of the game. Sadly for the Cules, Luis Suarez did not recover sufficiently to start alongside Messi and Neymar, and so Pedro go the nod. This forced change seemed to affect Barca's edge in the final third as Neymar and Pedro were reduced to mere spectators during the initial period. And this meant Messi had to take the entire responsibility to make it count for Barca. Messi did try all that he could - a header saved, a couple of shots blocked, a set-piece hitting the crossbar - but needed to produce something special against the determined Atletico. 

The 2nd half seemed to go in the same way as the 1st, but Barca were never really troubled as Atletico barely managed to threaten their defense. But Barca had to find a way to win this match since Real Marid were winning their own game against Espanyol. The breakthrough did arrive in the 65th minute courtesy of clinical Lionel Messi left-foot finish into the bottom corner after he had expertly found an angle from among tight spaces with many players surrounding him. Barca looked hungry for more and soon had a chance to kill off the game without delay. It was Messi again who dribbled past the entire Atletico defense and then passed the ball to Neymar to score. It was set up on a platter for Neymar who had only the keeper to beat from close range. He's very good in one-on-one situations, but this time Neymar somehow inexplicably ballooned his shot over the crossbar and that was easily the best chance of the game. That would have saved some nerves in the end, but Barca did hold on to their slender advantage to the end of the game with no problem whatsoever. Every single member of the squad has stepped up as Barca looked hungry for titles after a barren campaign last season. And we are now the La Liga Champions!! Forca Barca!!

One title's in the bag and two more within sniffing distance. FC Barcelona have made it to the UEFA Champions League Final where they will face Juventus FC on June 6th. And Barca will face Athletic Club Bilbao in the Copa Del Rey final on June 30th at Camp Nou. It is a brilliant result already for Barca following their trophy-less campaign in the previous season. Following a spectacular turnaround to their season at the beginning of 2015 and their phenomenal performances right through, it is only fitting that Barca win the Champions League this season and all the other competitions they are fighting for right now. And again, each and every player of the Barca squad has played a part in this. And it will only be ticked as perfect if we manage to bag the other trophies too. With the way are playing and have played this year, Barca well and truly deserve it.Forca Barca !!


Thanks for reading & cheers! See you soon!!    -- yps05