Barcelona clinch title with tense win at Atletico

               

Barcelona's Lionel Messi celebrates his goal against Atletico Madrid during their Spanish first division soccer match at Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid, Spain, May 17, 2015

Lionel Messi’s outstanding second-half goal gave Barcelona a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid, moving the Catalonians into an unassailable position at the top of La Liga and dethroning Diego Simeone’s side in the process.

Real Madrid claimed a 4-1 win over Espanyol, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring a hat-trick to put him four clear in the race for the Pichichi, but the result was rendered irrelevant by Barcelona’s win at the Vicente Calderon.


The Liga win is just one prong of what could be a treble winning season for Luis Enrique and Barca, with finals in the Champions League and the Copa Del Rey still to come for the Catalan club.
Atletico Madrid put up a stiff fight, but ultimately relinquished their crown following the brilliance of Messi - who played a neat interchange with Pedro Rodriguez inside the penalty area before sweeping home a finish into the far corner of Jan Oblak’s net.

Claudio Bravo made a number of saves to deny the hosts a way into the match, with Jose Gimenez coming particularly close with one header from a corner kick. Oblak was also called into action on a number of occasions, as Barca chased down their 23rd Liga title.
There was an irony to the fact that Barcelona clinched the championship at the Vicente Calderon almost a year to the day that Atletico Madrid won last season’s crown at the Camp Nou, with Enrique’s men now primed for an historic treble in their first year under the new coach.

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Barcelona's Lionel Messi (2nd L) celebrates his goal against Atletico Madrid with team mates during their Spanish …