Messi shines to help Barca win La Liga

With Lionel Messi's decisive goal, Barcelona won 1-0 on the field of last season's champion Atletico Madrid to take the title one round early.

Last season's champions Atletico could not stop Messi and his teammates from reaching the podium. Photo: Reuters

Before round 37, Barca had the advantage of only needing to win one of the remaining two matches to win the championship. And coach Luis Enrique and his team chose the most convincing way to win the championship, when they defeated Atletico Madrid right at Vicente Calderon. Messi became the hero of the match with a breakthrough to score the decisive goal in the 65th minute.

With 93 points after 37 rounds, Barca immediately ended Real Madrid's hopes of chasing and won the 23rd Liga championship. Coach Carlo Ancelotti's team also won the match on the evening of May 17 (4-1 against Espanyol) but could not shorten the gap of four points.

Barca had to conquer the Calderon fortress without their strongest trio of strikers. Due to not recovering from a hamstring injury in time, Luis Suarez could not even appear on the bench. Fortunately for Barca, the player who replaced him in the starting lineup, Pedro, did not disappoint coach Enrique's trust. In the 65th minute, Pedro coordinated to create the conditions for Messi to score the decisive goal.

True to their pre-match statements, Atletico did not let Barca win the championship easily. The Calderon home team even dominated the first 10 minutes and almost scored the opening goal.

However, after a somewhat modest start, Barca quickly pushed Atletico into a defensive position. Goalkeeper Jan Oblak soon had to show his talent when he blocked two shots from Messi. In the next stormy situation, the Czech goalkeeper surrendered but the ball went just wide of the goal after a direct free kick from M10. Defender Dani Alves also had a chance to threaten Atletico's goal but could not beat Oblak from a 25-meter shot.

Atletico played aggressively to prevent Barca from scoring.

With a strong start to the second half, the home team seemed to be able to make Barca suffer once again. Center back Diego Godin almost succeeded with a header over the bar in the 54th minute, after a perfect pass from Koke. Fernando Torres also tried his luck but could not beat the brilliant reflexes of goalkeeper Claudio Bravo.

Unable to take advantage of valuable opportunities in front of Barca's goal, Atletico paid dearly for a moment of laxity. After passing the ball to Pedro, Messi then charged left and right in the home team's penalty area and fired a shot that "threaded the needle" through a defender, surprising goalkeeper Oblak. The ball went to the far corner, bringing the decisive goal.

The match could have been decided early if Neymar had not missed a golden opportunity in the 71st minute. The striker shocked the audience when he fired a "bird shot" from just 7 meters away after a perfect pass from Messi.

The final minutes were the most nerve-wracking for Barca fans. Atletico almost equalized with a long-range shot from Siqueira. In the end, the visitors stood firm and won the La Liga title in Enrique's first season in charge. This victory was also a spectacular revenge for Atletico winning the La Liga title last season at the Nou Camp in the final round.

Barca won their first title in the 2014-2015 season.

According to VNE