Barcelona may as well say goodbye to their chances of retaining the La Liga title after they dropped points for the third time in four games, after drawing 2-2- with Atletico Madrid despite star player Lionel Messi scoring his 700th goal for his club and country.
Although Barca led twice, thanks to Atletico’s Diego Costa scoring a self-goal and Messi’s penalty, the opposition fought back with two penalties scored by Saul Niguez.
It’s difficult to see Barcelona winning from here, as Real Madrid is all set to play on Thursday. Unless Zinedine Zidane’s men play some awful football, their chances of bagging the title is high. A win on Thursday would mean a six-point swing. Zidane’s men would also have to drop points in their final five games, while Barcelona is required to win all six outings.
Messi and his closest rival Cristiano Ronaldo are the only two players in the 21st century to have scored over 700 goals. While Messi has a goal scoring ratio of 0.81 goals per game in his 862 outings, Ronaldo’s goal scoring ability is slightly less at 0.72 goals in 972 outings.
