Yep, I would concur. There is no magical switch to flip on when you feel like it, either you're in form or you're not and Barcelona are lacking both form & confidence atm - which is hard to fathom really and speaks to how recklessly this board has derailed the greatest era for the club
Pique will most likely play tomorrow. Neymar and Alba are huge doubts. They barely got the medical clearance, and I do not think they will be match fit.
Wait, hasn't Ronaldo scored 40+ this season.
We are referring to league goals, in relation to which the golden shoe is awarded. In La Liga, Ronaldo has scored 31 goals. He has also scored 3 in the Spanish Cup, and 16 (!) in the Champions League.
I see! Well there's no reason why he can't get the golden shoe!
A last hurrah for the current Barcelona set-up would be awesome! As tough as it would be for the valiant Atletico players and managers.
But why didn't they do it in the CL? (looking at you Lionel)
Well, he needs one more goal, and for that to happen, he must play against Espanyol.
I've got a mate who was talking about it being his Super Saturday viewing with the Scottish Cup Final between St Johnstone/Dundee United and the Barca/Atletico match... As if there's a single fecking similarity between the two.
If there's any doubt over his fitness (don't know if there is myself), he shouldn't play, record or not. He's already rushed back a few times over the past few months, it would be stupid to do so with the Champions League next week and the World Cup beyond that.
I think we could say the same about Barca's performance against Elche. The big thing will be whether Atletico have ran out of gas or whether they've still got two big performances left in them. If they're fresh, I think they'll nullify Barca again.
They'll still be louder.
That's the norm in Spain generally. Nothing new here.
"Patético" is actually how many Portuguese fans call Atletico
Very deservedly, Atletico will go in as favorites as I think it's still on Barcelona to win against an opponent they may have barely lost to once in 5 meetings but have failed to play as well as they think they can. There's a mental edge at play that can't be discounted, even for this special group of players. Barcelona have already had must win situations against them on no less than 3 of their 5 previous meetings and failed to impose their quality over Madrid in any of them. In one of the others, I believe they were satisfied with the draw and the other they were defeated before they even got on the pitch, IMHO
At least they don't seem too down about it... Lovely quote from the Atlético captain, Gabi, today: "You don't deserve titles, you win them."
Somebody tell that to Stevie fecking Gerrard and his ****.
Nevertheless, the team has shown over the past six years that they can perform under pressure, and in the biggest of games. That mentality has been sadly lacking this season, but I'm hoping they show some balls for this final game - it won't save the season, because it's been a poor show almost all the way through, but at the very least we'll have bottled it less than the others then.
@ItsEssexRob have you sealed the Atletico win?
There's no minimum % set.
