Chapter 369: A "Wonderful" Flower in La Liga

After the results of the Champions League draw are out, it is actually not far from the Champions League semi-finals.

In a week's time, April 26 in the middle of next week, the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals will be played.

This time Atletico Madrid is playing at home first, and then playing away.

In terms of schedule, it is not very good for them.

With Barcelona's experience, Atletico Madrid fans are not likely to say that they will end the suspense in the first leg.

When Barcelona defeated Atletico Madrid 3-0 at their home stadium, didn't it end the suspense of the game in the eyes of many? The result?

Therefore, no matter what the first leg of Atletico Madrid is like, it is very important to go away from home in this second leg, and it must not be taken lightly.

There are two more league games ahead of this Champions League fixture, which take place in a week.

Prior to that, Atletico Madrid had just played two Champions League quarter-finals and league games, a period of complete double matches in a row.

It's also a great test of the players' fitness.

However, the only good news is that Barcelona dropped the chain in the previous league and the pressure on Atletico Madrid is not so great.

The Atletico Madrid players don't have to feel so urgent, they can take a breather.

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The 33rd round of the league was played on April 17, and three days later, on April 20, Atletico Madrid will travel to Athletic Bilbao to face Athletic Bilbao.

And this is arguably the strongest of all the remaining opponents in the Atletico Madrid League.

If Barcelona are going to expect Atletico Madrid to make a mistake and then they are catching up, this is the best chance.

If Athletic Bilbao can't stop Atletico Madrid, then Barcelona's title dream is really in danger.

Athletic Bilbao is a wonder in world football.

What makes them strange is their regulations on employing people.

Athletic Bilbao is located in the Basque Country in northwestern Spain, which is part of the Basque Country, which includes the Basque Country of Spain, the Community of Novara, and the Northern Basque Country of France.

The Basques have their own language, which is different from the official language of Spain. Historically, the Basques have always had a very strong sense of nationality, and although they are surrounded by strong enemies, they have resisted foreign invasions many times. The town of Guernica, based on Picasso's famous painting Guernica, created by Picasso during the Second World War during the air raids, is located in the Basque Country.

After the death of Spanish dictator Franco, the Basque Country took a hard line with the Spanish government on the division of autonomy.

These initiatives continue the strong sense of regional cultural identity of the local people.

It is for this reason that Athletic Bilbao, which was born in Bilbao, the largest city in the Basque Country, also has a strong regional cultural tradition, which is based on players who were born in the Basque Country or who moved to the Basque Country as a teenager and started playing here.

However, this strange rule has been loosened in recent years, requiring players to have Basque ancestry, not necessarily to live or play in the Basque Country.

This is because their selection is limited to the Basque Country, which is too narrow, and the players here are too limited to support the development of this team.

However, it is precisely because of this particularly strong sense of regional cultural identity that Athletic Bilbao is very combative. Perhaps they are limited by the selection of players, and the strength of the players is not the strongest, but the fighting spirit and will are incomparable.

In particular, their home stadium, San Mames, is the home of the devil for many La Liga teams.

Even giants like Real Madrid and Barcelona will capsize if they don't go all out to play here.

And Atletico Madrid happened to play Athletic Bilbao away in this round.

Barcelona fans hope that the Basques of Athletic Bilbao will give full play to their fighting spirit, follow the example of their predecessors who resisted foreign invasions, and continue the tradition of the Basque Autonomous Region to resist the infiltration of the Spanish Castile monarchy, and at the San Mamés stadium, they will be able to defeat the Atlético team from Madrid and tell them who the real "Atlético team" is - both teams are called "Aététic", but one is followed by "Bilbao" and the other is "Madrid".

The regional color is very strong.

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Barcelona started this league game, but they played 45 minutes earlier than Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, so unfortunately they couldn't finish the game and watch it with the mood of "watching the tiger".

The Barcelona players didn't care about what happened to Atletico Madrid, they had to play their game first.

After all, they are also away from home, away to Deportivo La Coruna.

Barcelona fans, on the other hand, can focus on two things, watching Barcelona games while following the latest developments in Atletico Madrid's game.

Perhaps spurred on by Enrique's words in his post-match press conference, the Barcelona players had to prove that the league and Champions League defeat was not their responsibility, but the manager's responsibility.

At the beginning of the game, all the Barcelona players were very positive, and there was no shadow of the poor performance in the first two games.

In the 11th minute, Suarez opened the scoring for his team.

In the 24th minute, he scored twice to make the score 2:0.

At the end of the first half, Barcelona led Deportivo La Coruna 2-0 away.

Judging from the performance of both sides, the outcome of this game has lost its suspense. Deportivo La Coruna, who are 13th in the league this season, will find it difficult to compete head-to-head with a fire-powered Barcelona, even on their home turf.

At the same time as the whistle blew at the end of the first half, at the San Mamés stadium, Athletic Bilbao also blew the opening whistle for the home match against Atletico Madrid.

Athletic Bilbao also lined up the strongest squad in this game, and it is obvious that they want to win Atletico Madrid at home.

Ahead of this game they are fifth with 54 points, while Villarreal are fourth with 60 points, six points ahead of them.

There is only one place between the fourth and fifth places, but it is a watershed moment for the two worlds – the fourth place can play in the Champions League, and the fifth place can only play in the Europa League.

If they can play in the Champions League, who will pass up that opportunity?

Villarreal lost 1-2 away to Rayo Vallecano in the last round, and although they have not played in this round of the league, they are away to challenge Real Madrid, if nothing else, Villarreal will lose.

If Athletic Bilbao can win Atletico Madrid at home at the same time as Villarreal's loss, will the difference between the two sides be reduced to three points?

In this way, Athletic Bilbao's chances of participating in next season's Champions League will be greatly improved.

It is precisely for this reason that Barcelona fans have pinned their hopes on them.

If Athletic Bilbao has no hope of qualifying for the Champions League at this time, and there is no need for relegation, Barcelona fans will definitely not dare to dream of letting them beat Atletico Madrid.