This is not a repeat of 2013-14: Atlético are playing expansive football and cemented their favourites tag against Barcelona
Late on Saturday night, not long after his players had beaten Barcelona 1-0, immortalised a moment even they hadn’t experienced before with a celebratory photo taken in an improvised recovery room beneath the stands and headed home still in their kit, Diego Simeone sat in an empty auditorium and started another Zoom call. A series of journalists appeared on screen, taking it in turns attempting to get him to say Atlético Madrid are going to win the league. Or at least try to. One by one they failed, until somebody asked if he saw any similarities between this team and the one that took the title six years ago. “No,” he said, “I don’t.”
Next.
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Friday: Osasuna 1-1 Huesca. Sat: Atlético 1-0 Barcelona, Levante 1-1 Elche, Sevilla 4-2 Celta, Villarreal 1-1 Real Madrid. Sun: Alavés 2-2 Valencia, Cádiz 0-1 Real Sociedad, Eibar 0-0 Getafe, Granada 1-3 Valladolid. Mon: Athletic 4-0 Betis.
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