With all the negative noise coming from the Barcelona Camp about new managers and unsatisfied players, you would be forgiven for assuming they were a team doomed for relegation like Fulham, but they are quite the opposite; the Catalans are two wins away from a successive La Liga trophy. For a team with the rich history of Barcelona that few clubs can rival, it's unfamiliar for the club to come out publicly and state how much of a failure this campaign has been when they are within touching distance of the trophy, their breath fogging up the glass holding the trophy.
After writing themselves off, Barcelona players and fans alike must have had a sleepless night following their 2-2 draw with Granada, the club losing it's pulse in La Liga, but little did they know this was the best result from the top three clubs in the league. Atletico Madrid lost away to Levante, and Barcelona's fierce El Classico rivals drew away to Valencia and with Real Valadoid, thus reviving the battling Barcalona.
After publicly speaking about how he isn't 'good enough' to be Barcelona manager, the Catalans have been revived with the defibrillators being the other top contenders misfortunes. They have awoke to see this 'failure' of a season is only now one win away from retaining their beloved trophy. Along with Tata Martino's negative words, Barcelona war-hero Xavi Hernandez gave an explicit description of the current season, but now they can see the light from the two Madrid teams burns.
Now behind the wheel again, Barcelona have got refueled and received new tires, and entered the race again, right behind Atletico Madrid for the overtake. With a win against an Elche with a previous nine game unbeaten run, the title bout between Tata Martino and Diego Simeone will leave one manager lifting the belt and the other left for dead having given their all.
To beat a ruthless and hungry wolf in Atletico Madrid, Barcelona need to unleash the superhero who wears blue and red, the Amazing Lionel Messi.
In what many has considered a poor season for the four time Ballon D'Or winner, Lionel Messi has hit twenty-eight goals with ten assists in twenty-eight appearances in La Liga. Although having an envious scoring record in La Liga, the Argentine hasn't scored against Atletico in the five meetings they had this season. In both ties of the Champions League quarter finals, whenever the Argentine touched the ball he was swarmed and stung by the Atletico players. In the match that will decide the title, Messi will know the Atletico players will stick to the same aggressive mantra, so he has to anticipate that he will attract players like a magnet, so he can use this to make his teammates options. When he touches the ball, he can draw players away, and setup teammates making runs in behind. If Messi is the difference, it will rubbish all the criticism he has gathered, from reports of him being lazy or saving himself for the world cup.
Barcelona need to be united and believe this weekend when they face an Atletico Madrid team that has defied the odds all season. The Catalan's Talisman Lionel Messi will need to be a class above the rest when the ball is kicked at the Camp Nou on the weekend, hopefully bringing joy to what has been a lackluster season for the Catalans.
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