5 Key Remaining Fixtures in Atletico Madrid's Liga Title Quest
Atletico Madrid topped La Liga at the midway stage and, having won again on Sunday to take their recent run to four successive league victories, remain first in Spain's top flight with genuine hopes of winning the title once again.
Still in the Copa del Rey and Champions League too, Diego Simeone's men will have their attentions split three ways, but the manager will believe the squad has both the mental capacity and the technical quality to remain competitive on each front.
The cups are partly down to the luck of the draw—Atleti face Celta Vigo in the Copa and PSV Eindhoven in Europe—but the route to success in La Liga is already mapped out; here are the five most important fixtures they will have to emerge with positive results from if they are to have a chance of beating Real Madrid and Barcelona to the title.
January 30: Away to Barcelona
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Before January is over, the first of those games crops up, and it will be a top-of-the-table battle in all likelihood—first vs. second as things stand.
Barcelona have a game in hand and could technically move above Atletico anyway if they win, but since that game hasn't taken place yet, Atletico will be hoping to establish a gap between themselves and the reigning titleholders when the two clash at the Camp Nou on Jan. 30.
The unstoppable attacking force against the most resolute defence in the league will provide a fantastic spectacle and will no doubt go some way to showing which way the title could tilt—but a result here, positive or negative, won't be completely telling.
February 21: Home to Villarreal
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Atletico have only lost three times this season: once to Barcelona, once in improbable fashion to Malaga and once to Villarreal—when their own on-loan player Leo Baptistao scored the winner for the Yellow Submarine.
Simeone's men will have to put that record straight on February 21 among a testing run of games; Villarreal are fourth place on merit this season after being by far the most consistent of the Champions League challengers and are at present unbeaten in seven in La Liga.
Villarreal's 4-4-2 mimics that of Atletico's, and it will be a tactical battle as much as a technical one to see who emerges triumphant—but at home, the Rojiblancos simply have to find a way to win.
February 28: Away to Real Madrid
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Of course, the derby cannot be ignored, and it follows hot on the heels of the game against Villarreal.
Earlier in the season, the game at the Vicente Calderon finished 1-1 after Luciano Vietto snatched a late equaliser, though Real had the better of the match for long spells. There is a four-point gap between the two Madrid sides at present, but that could have changed significantly by the time they meet up in the Santiago Bernabeu on February 28.
Last year, Atletico's most impressive performance of the season saw them blitz Real with a display of power, pressing and clinical finishing—it ended 4-0, but that was at home. To do so in their neighbours' back garden would be an altogether more impressive statement that Atletico, not Real, are this year's title challengers from the capital city.
April 10: Away to Espanyol
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Espanyol are one of those teams that seems to roll over for Real Madrid yet be extremely tough for everyone else to break down.
The Catalan outfit have certainly proved a tough nut to crack for Atleti in recent seasons, and heading into the final stretch of this campaign, an away win at Estadi Cornella-El Prat could prove decisive.
In November, an early Antoine Griezmann goal was the only difference between the sides, while toward the end of last season, Atletico could only draw 0-0 at Espanyol. A narrow win, as they have managed so often this season, would be enough for the Rojiblancos on this occasion—but they'll certainly have to work hard to get it.
May 8: Away to Levante
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Three of Atletico Madrid's last four games in La Liga this season will be played at the Vicente Calderon, where Atleti have so far won seven and drawn one of their nine fixtures.
If they are still in the title hunt after the fixture at Espanyol, they have a fantastic chance of lifting the trophy—but they'll have one fixture left on the road that will likely be harder than it looks, as they visit Levante in early May.
Bottom of the table, Levante are favourites for relegation, but it's largely due to their lack of scoring ability than because they are all-round terrible as a team; their last three defeats (including one to Atleti that needed a late Thomas winner) have all been by a single goal. Only netting 17 goals in 20 games this term tells its own story.
Levante will likely be needing points to fight for survival and have only conceded 15 at home this term, and at the end of last season, a 2-2 draw in this fixture essentially signalled the end of Atleti's title challenge. They must do better this time, and if they do, Diego Simeone's men could head into the last fixture of the season, at the Vicente Calderon against Celta Vigo, knowing they have the chance to lift the title on home soil.
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