It was billed as the match that would decide the title but nothing is decided yet and the team that won it was the one that didn’t play. There were 15 seconds left when Lionel Messi bent a free-kick around Jan Oblak’s post, the last opportunity gone for either side, a 0-0 draw at the Camp Nou keeping Atlético Madrid top of the table and moving Barcelona second but leaving Real Madrid as the only team with their destiny in their own hands.
Atlético are top with 77 points and Barcelona have 75. Real Madrid and Sevilla, who face each other on Sunday night, have 74 and 70 respectively. It could have been worse, and perhaps that told, but at the final whistle here there was disappointment. Both sides could have taken this and could still take the league title, the best chances falling to Felipe for Atlético and Ousmane Dembélé for Barcelona, and yet it fit this season somehow that ultimately no one could take that final step.
