Chapter 575 Crossing this hurdle

Atletico Madrid did not return to Madrid.

Because in three days' time, in the 35th round of the league, they are also about to face Espanyol away from home.

This is also a Barcelona team, and you can tell from the name what the position of this team is.

However, Espanyol is the younger brother of Real Madrid, and Atletico Madrid can't enjoy the treatment of being given points by the other party, on the contrary, as the younger brother, the Spaniard must be desperate to snipe the league rivals for the big brother, so as to show a loyal attitude.

For Atletico Madrid, this game is not easy to play either.

And just when Atletico Madrid settled in the local hotel in Barcelona and then found a venue to wait for the next round of the league to start, the media began to report in depth about the Champions League match, which ended not long ago.

This game is really a feast for the media.

The biggest hot spot is undoubtedly Atletico Madrid ending their five-game winning streak against Barcelona and losing away from home.

And the away loss was 0-3, which directly made the second leg of the game lose its suspense and meaning.

"Barcelona got their revenge, they humiliated Atletico Madrid, and Barcelona even reached the Champions League final first! Atletico Madrid will never be able to reverse it! ”

After the game, Daily Sports reported on the game in a sarcastic tone.

The media have been suggesting that Barcelona can consider their opponents in the final.

The other semi-final is Real Madrid's home game against Bayern Munich, but this game is a day later than the match between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona.

For Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich are actually similar, but the Catalan media tend to favor Real Madrid, because judging from the mutual results in recent years, Barcelona has the absolute upper hand over Real Madrid.

Of course, apart from the Catalan media, the Spanish media in other regions also want Real Madrid to reach the final, but for different reasons than Catalan.

If Real Madrid reach the final, then the Champions League final will become a La Liga civil war, and no matter what the result, the Champions League trophy will be won by the La Liga team.

And Atletico Madrid?

Who cares about them now?

The Catalan media are ridiculing Atletico Madrid.

"It doesn't matter if the league title is lost to Atletico Madrid, we already have 20 league titles and the season is not over, Atletico Madrid may not win the title, but one thing is for sure, Barcelona will reach the final and fight for a fifth Champions League trophy!!"

'Losing three goals, Atletico Madrid is going to say goodbye to the Champions League. In a game of this level in the Champions League, a team like Atletico Madrid can't play! ”

All the media agreed that the second leg had lost its meaning.

The media in the Madrid region certainly think so.

"For Atletico Madrid, the focus should now be on the league, although they are at the top of the table, but the three teams have the same points, and now Atletico Madrid, although they have one game less, they can theoretically get three more points than Real Madrid and Barcelona, but this is still in theory, isn't it?"

Many Atletico Madrid fans share this view.

"Defending the league title is a great achievement, in my heart it is no less than winning the Champions League, after all, the league is the foundation..."

This is the opinion of some fans when a TV station interviewed Atletico Madrid fans in Madrid.

Some media questioned the referee's decision.

Spain's big newspaper El País is still relatively neutral, and they reluctantly said in their report: "It's a pity that the referee unexpectedly called the protagonist in a semi-final conversation. Dutch referee Kupes' decision was debatable, Sandro blew the penalty in the first move, which was no problem, but then Alves pulled Mane and Boateng Rabusquets, who was awarded a penalty for a lighter movement. Such a penalty scale is indeed quite controversial! ”

Former La Liga referee Oliver pointed out in his column for Marca: "Atletico Madrid lost in anger, this game was unfair to them, both of Barcelona's penalties are debatable, if such a scale can award a penalty, then Atletico Madrid should have at least one penalty!" ”

There are also media criticizing the referee's unfair decision, "Super Sports" said: "The second penalty is too controversial, a very slight pull, I am afraid it is not enough to cause Busquets to fall, and in the face of such a player with a precedent of fake falls, the referee needs to be more cautious when making a penalty award." ”

According to a poll conducted by the newspaper As, 70 percent of fans believe that the second penalty does not exist.

The general view of most neutral media is that the second penalty was awarded "too soft and far-fetched", and Boateng did pull people, but similar pulling actions abound. Considering the importance of the game, the score on the field at that time, and the fact that a penalty had been awarded before, the referee verbally warned Boateng instead of rashly pointing to the penalty spot, perhaps it was better to hang, but unfortunately the highly educated referee Kuppes, who has a master's degree, did not know how to be flexible at all.

.........

No matter what the media said after the game, the game was over.

After two days of repairs in Barcelona, on April 21, Atletico Madrid took on Espanyol away.

At the Alpra Stadium, Atletico Madrid controlled the rhythm from the very beginning of the game.

The Spaniards played hard, but against Atletico Madrid, who had just suffered defeat and desperately needed a win to prove themselves, the Spaniards resisted for less than twenty minutes.

In the nineteenth minute of the game, Griezmann scored through a direct free kick!

Not long after, Diego Costa headed the ball into the back of the net with a header from inside the box.

In the second half, Koke, who started the game, helped the team to another goal!

Three to zero!

Atletico Madrid beat Espanyol by three goals.

Immediately after the game, Atletico Madrid boarded the plane and returned to Madrid to prepare for the second leg of the Champions League!

After losing 3-0 away and returning to home, no one is optimistic that Atletico Madrid can turn the tables around.

But what Gao Bo has been instilling in the players these days is: "We can turn the tables, we have the strength to turn the tables!!"

And of course, the players also choose to trust Gao Bo, because under Gao Bo's leadership, they have achieved very brilliant achievements.

And now, it's just a relatively big hurdle.