Atletico face Barca showdown for the title after Malaga draw

Andy West 09:05 12/05/2014
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  • Hair-raising stuff: Toby Alderweireld heads Atletico level in Madrid.

    Atletico Madrid squandered the chance to win the title as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Malaga with a nervous, timid performance which sets up a thrilling title-decider against Barcelona next Saturday.

    The hosts contributed to their downfall with a horrendous piece of defending to gift Malaga an opener and after Toby Alderweireld’s leveller from a corner, a late rally wasn’t enough to deliver the win that would have secured their first championship since 1996.

    Instead it must come down to Saturday’s visit to the Nou Camp and while Atletico have not lost to Barca in five meetings so far this season – four have been draws – Tata Martino’s side have considerably more title-winning experience.

    Without the injured Diego Costa, Atletico started well, winning a series of early set pieces and forcing the stretched Malaga defence into a number of frantic clearances.

    Atletico had a glorious chance to take the lead, when Raul Garcia flicked a long pass into the stride of David Villa, who got to the ball just ahead of Willy Caballero and lifted it over the onrushing keeper but against the top of the crossbar.

    Malaga then settled into the game and enjoyed the better of the middle phase of the first half. Although they didn’t create any chances, the visitors were comfortable in defence as Atletico struggled to find fluency in possession and clearly missed the focal point of Costa in attack.

    The home team improved significantly towards the interval, with Juanfran twice advancing from right back to deliver crosses which could have led to the opener, firstly when Koke stabbed an awkward effort wide and then when Garcia mistimed his leap and headed wide.

    Malaga, who needed a point to be absolutely safe from relegation, continued to offer stubborn resistance in the early stages of the second half, with Atletico’s only threat before the hour mark coming when Garcia’s diagonal ball found Villa, whose fierce strike from a narrow angle was batted away by Caballero’s outstretched arm.

    The visitors were showing little in attack but had a great chance on a breakaway when Samu fed Roque Santa Cruz, who saw his effort superbly charged down by the advancing Thibaut Courtois.

    But Courtois was one of many Atletico players at fault when Malaga took a shock lead. Alderweireld made a complete hash of a clearance, Courtois and Miranda lost the race to the loose ball to visiting winger Samu, who lofted it high into the air before nodding calmly into the empty net.

    Atletico were visibly stunned and needed a few minutes to gather their composure, coming close to a leveller when Gabi’s clever freekick released Villa who was again denied by Caballero.

    From Jose Sosa’s subsequent corner, however, Alderweireld helped to atone for his earlier error with a thumping header into the corner, reigniting the home crowd.

    Atletico pushed forward for the final stages and Malaga’s task was complicated when Marcos Angeleri was shown his second yellow card for a reckless lunge on Diego Ribas.

    Sosa curled the resulting freekick into the side-netting but there was still time for another chance as Adrian found space on the left corner of the box and sent a well-struck curler towards the top corner, only for Caballero to produce a spectacular diving save.

    Man of the match: Willy Caballero
    Caballero is the only reason Barca are still in the title race for a brilliant stoppage time save from Adrian. That was just the highest point of an all-round excellent performance containing a number of good saves from the Malaga keeper.

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