Atletico draws with Barcelona and keeps Liga lead
Madrid, May 09 (AP): Atletico Madrid held on to its Spanish league lead again, this time by earning a draw against Lionel Messi’s Barcelona at the Camp Nou Stadium.
Last week, it benefitted from a Barcelona setback to remain at the top, and on Sunday it will need Real Madrid to stumble to avoid losing first place.
Atletico drew with Barcelona 0-0 on Saturday to fend off the Catalan club’s charge. It will depend on Sevilla to hold off Madrid when they meet on Sunday; Zinedine Zidane’s team would take the lead with a home win.
“I’m not watching these matches, it’s not something that is good for me,” Atletico coach Diego Simeone said.
“I prefer not to watch them. And it won’t change much if I do watch them. So I’ll keep calm. I’ll be having dinner with the family and then I’ll start preparing for the next match.”
Saturday’s draw kept Atletico two points in front of Barcelona with three rounds to go. Madrid was three points back but would take the lead with a victory on Sunday because it holds the head-to-head tiebreaker against its city rival. Sevilla was fourth, seven points behind Atletico and still in contention.
