With just five rounds left until the end of the season, only three points separate the top-four teams in La Liga as the Spanish league serves up one of the most intriguing title races in recent times.
Not one team is quite ready to pull away from the rest, the latest evidence being Barcelona’s shock 2-1 home defeat to Granada on Thursday night.
Both Atletico and Real Madrid had also earlier dropped crucial points in the previous matchday, and the least favoured contender Sevilla – who are currently fourth with 70 points – appear to be the only consistent team in the race as they have won each of their last five games including a tough encounter with leaders Atletico Madrid.
At the start of the year, Atletico were looking like runaway leaders as they had established an 11-point gap at the top, but their firm grip has since diminished, and although they are yet top of the chart and in control of their own destiny, only two points separate them from second-placed Real Madrid.
Defending champions Real Madrid, in contrast, have had to overcome a quite slow start to their title defence and they appear to have garnered good momentum now.
In their first ten league games into the season, they won only five, drew twice and lost three times. But they have been on a fantastic run since then up till midway through this month when they started showing worrying signs.
After their brilliant El Clasico win at the Bernabeu on April 10, they somewhat took foot off the gas, winning just one of their three games since then as they could only manage goalless draws in relatively easy encounters with Real Betis (at home) and 15th-placed Getafe.
Barcelona, on their end, have had several frustrating moments this season. They lost all of their three encounters yet with the Madrid sides – a big dent on their title ambitions as Head-to-Head record is the preferred tie-breaker in La Liga.
They suffered another big blow on Thursday night when they blew up a big chance to displace Atletico atop the table with their game-in-hand encounter with Granada.
Nevertheless, Atletico are yet *just* in control and will definitely fancy their chances. They have the best defensive record in the league having conceded only 22 goals so far and this their solid defensive shape may prove vital in the last five games and help them not implode on pressure.
The Crucial Matchday 35
The most intriguing aspect of this La Liga title race is that all four teams involved will pair each other for what could be an entertaining decider on matchday 35 next month.
Barcelona will hope to make it count when they play host to Atletico on May 8 while Sevilla will seek to prove they are serious contenders when they travel to Real Madrid for the crunch encounter on May 9.
Sure the final five La Liga games this season will be worth everyone’s attention as the title race is so nicely set up.
Now the stakes are high and it’s no bad idea for football betting fans to keep keen interest in the remaining games. You never can tell, you can be that courageous and lucky punter who will cash out big by betting on La Liga the next time one of these top-four teams falters against a smaller opponent.