- Diego Simeone's side frustrated the visiting Catalans for long spells at the Vicente Calderon
- Neymar and Lionel Messi were kept quiet as Barcelona knew they needed three points for the title
- Diego Godin missed a superb chance with the score goalless just after half-time
- But Messi opened the scoring on 65 minutes as Barcelona won the 23rd La Liga title in their history
What a difference a year makes. Three-hundred and sixty-five days ago, Atletico Madrid won La Liga at the Nou Camp and now Barcelona have exacted revenge, winning the Spanish title – their 23rd – by beating the former champions in the Vicente Calderon.
When the goal came, it had to be Lionel Messi, for so many reasons. Because he is the star of this team. Because finding his best form in years has inspired Barcelona to reach two cup finals and win this trophy. Because Cristiano Ronaldo had just scored a few minutes earlier against Espanyol, to jeopardise Barcelona's title chances.
It was a beautiful strike, too. Messi fed the ball into Pedro, in the left-hand side of the area. Pedro knew his job was to cut it back to the Barcelona No 10, and did just that. One touch from Messi, rolling his left foot over the ball left Jose Gimenez lunging at thin air. Another micro-touch to the left, unbalanced Diego Godin and a third and final touch saw the ball nestling in the bottom right corner of Oblak's net.
Luis Enrique is dreaming of the treble, a word he admitted in a press conference that he likes. He is dreaming of emulating Pep Guardiola's achievement in his first season at Barcelona, which would make the Catalans the only team to do it twice. This was a huge stride in the right direction, and now the coach can rest players in the final match of the league season, at home against Deportivo de la Coruna next weekend.
Last season these teams met six times and Barcelona failed to win on any occasion, only scoring three goals. There has been a sea change this term, with Luis Enrique's side racking up eight goals in four matches against the Rojiblancos.
Diego Simeone was sweating at Atletico's Ciudad Deportiva de Majadahonda training complex this week. Partly because of the intense heatwave that has swept across Spain, and partly because working out how to stop Messi, Neymar and Suarez is arguably the hardest task in football at the moment – though he was saved from having to deal with the latter, thanks to a hamstring strain.
Given that his side had the week off, Simeone forced his players to sit through numerous tactical briefings, using videos of their previous three defeats by Barcelona this season to highlight the changes they needed to make to their game-plan. They looked better defensively in this game than in their other three defeats by Barcelona this season, but as Pep Guardiola pointed out, Messi is unstoppable.
Barcelona knew that with three points, the league was theirs, but they began the game slowly, preferring to save energy and let Atletico toil. Toiling, however, is found in the Rojiblanco bloodstream and Simeone's men started to enjoy themselves. Clever work by Arda Turan on the left earned his side a corner, from which they nearly opened the scoring. In it came, from Koke, and Gimenez's flicked header towards the far corner was tipped away by Claudio Bravo, straining every sinew to reach the ball.
The Chilean was called into action again when Antoine Griezmann fired in a strike from the right, repelling the forward's effort superbly, not knowing the linesman's flag was raised.
Barcelona began to take the sting out of the game by getting the ball and keeping it to themselves, and created their first opportunity in the 11th minute. Neymar, to Andres Iniesta, to Messi, but his shot was kept out by Jan Oblak. This was the start of a long battle between the Slovene and the Argentine. Messi was denied again when his header from 12 yards was aimed too centrally to trouble the goalkeeper.
The Calderon, usually so loud, was quietened by a long period of Barcelona possession. For a moment the siren of a police car whizzing between the stadium and the Manzanarez River was audible, above the murmur of the fans.
All the better for Barcelona, who continued to move up through the gears, growing in confidence and stature.
Messi fired narrowly over the bar from the edge of the box, before creating a chance for Pedro after a wonderful change of pace in midfield. He hovered like a dragonfly, near the edge of the centre-circle, before hurtling forward, away from two defenders and dangerously near to the area. His eventual through-ball was deflected and Pedro couldn't convert it, but Barcelona were now a distinct threat to the Atletico defence.
If Atletico were a sponge, absorbing Barcelona attacks, the Catalans were determined to wring the water out, and had two penalty shouts before half-time. The first saw Juanfran handle the ball while going in for a challenge with Messi, but he had little time to react. Barcelona were enraged that it hadn't been given, Atletico would have been angrier if it had.
The other was an intriguing situation, where Dani Alves' shirt was pulled just outside the box, by Godin. The Brazilian defender went down theatrically, falling inside the area.
Referee Undiano Mallenco awarded a free kick, but also booked Alves for diving, and then Godin for complaining vehemently into his face. Tensions rose, there was some pushing and shoving, and when Messi eventually took the free kick his effort beat Oblak but flicked off the top of the crossbar.
After Messi struck, Atletico were a little subdued, despite throwing on Croatian tornado Mario Mandzukic for the ineffective Fernando Torres. Barcelona should have scored again soon afterwards, when Ivan Rakitic burst forward in his usual jet-pack fashion, feeding Messi, who in turn coaxed a ball through to Neymar, who was left with what should have been a simple finish.
You could already see the route it was going to take, steered round Oblak and into the far corner. But Neymar, perhaps feeling the pressure of the situation, decided to aim for the near post and blazed the ball over the bar. It did not matter. Neither did the fact that Pedro's effort from distance flew millimetres wide of Oblak's top-right corner. What did, was that Bravo was alert to make a smart stop from a Guilherme Siqueira drive, late on.
Atletico president Enrique Cerezo remembered that last season, Barcelona supporters applauded them off the field, despite Godin's header denying Barcelona the title. 'We have fantastic memories of winning La Liga last season at Camp Nou and the treatment we received from the fans of Barca,' said Cerezo. 'So if Barca win La Liga today, I hope we can celebrate with them.'
There was more of a mixed reception, with the bad blood that has shot up between these sides in recent meeting – red cards, Arda Turan throwing his boot at the linesman, Neymar aggravating Atletico fans with his flicks and tricks – with some choosing to applaud the new league champions, others opting to hurl abuse.
But in the end, Messi's 54th goal in 54 games this season in all competitions made the difference – not to mention his 30 assists – with Barcelona supporters now looking forward to welcoming the team home next week, with two finals to follow.
They will be spilling out of the bars and dancing around the Canaletes fountain, which is shrouded in legend, which sits at the top of Las Ramblas, as they have done since the 1930s, when the club wins a trophy. If all goes to plan, they will be doing it twice more, too.
