Breaking Down Claudio Bravo's Performance for Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid

Neither Barcelona nor Atletico Madrid came racing out of the blocks at the Vicente Calderon in a game where both teams knew that three points would bring immediate reward.

The Rojiblancos would claim a third-place berth and guaranteed Champions League football while Barca would be crowned champions with the win.

As the game settled, Atleti made their presence felt and Barca's goalkeeper Claudio Bravo was thrust into action.

With just 19 goals conceded all season long, the Chilean clearly wanted to add another clean sheet to a long list of shutouts. Indeed, the 22 prior to this game were already a La Liga record.

It's worth dwelling on just how much Bravo has played a part in Barca's successful run during the campaign, and that it was widely accepted that he would be second choice behind Marc-Andre ter Stegen after signing for the Catalans.

During the first 10 minutes in this game, we saw once again how important the custodian has been. A full-length save that required Bravo to arc backwards and get a strong hand on Raul Jimenez's header from an Atleti corner was one of the best saves of the keeper's season.

Although Antoine Griezmann would be adjudged offside just two minutes later, Bravo's reflex action was, again, worthy of more than a cursory mention in dispatches.

With a quarter hour on the clock and Barca's defences still to be breached, the Chilean had notched up a hugely creditable 470 minutes without conceding a goal in La Liga.

Even taking into account that Barcelona's defence have performed at a higher level during this season than last, Bravo's calm but authoritative style has given the team the perfect platform from which to build.

Involved perhaps more than he would like in the opening period, Bravo's distribution was purposeful and accurate. As you would expect from a player high on confidence.

Atleti were certainly prepared to give their visitors a difficult match and applied expected pressure at every opportunity, including closing down Bravo where possible.

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However the keeper was alert to every possibility and became Barca's solutions man, instigating the counter attack when possible.

Indeed, a sign of just how comfortable the Catalans' back four were with Bravo at their back was their penchant for bringing the keeper into the game whenever possible. The ball back to move forward, if you prefer.

Fernando Torres was one of many Atleti players to have found that Bravo was in exactly the right place at the right time. Every time.

A quickly taken free kick could've surprised a keeper who was not involved for long periods of the second half but Bravo ensured his concentration remained total. As he has done for every minute of this title-winning season.

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Another flying save on 86 minutes from Guilherme Siqueira was a decent bookend to the game for the Chilean.

Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez will take the plaudits for bringing the La Liga title back to Camp Nou, but Claudio Bravo deserves his time in the limelight, too.