FCBARCELONA.CAT

16.02.2010 12:28

2009: Defeat in the Calderón led to the title

Jesús Carrillo

History repeated itself on Sunday evening in Vicente Calderón as Barça were beaten by Atletíco de Madrid. Just like last season the team tasted defeat and were left to reflect on what went wrong and how to bounce back.

After the 4-3 reverse against Los Colchoneros last term Pep Guardiola’s side embarked on a run of seven consecutive wins as they beat Athletic Club, Almerá, Málaga, Real Valladolid, Recreativo, Getafe and Sevilla as they sped towards the league title. A 2-2 draw against Valencia was followed by the historic 2-6 win against Real Madrid in Santiago Bernabéu and another draw, this time against Villarreal, came before the Blaugrana were crowned as champions.

No different

This year there is no reason to presume that the situation will any different. There may still be many more games to play, but having kicked off the campaign with trophies back in August Barça then remained unbeaten throughout the first half of the league season.

16 matches

Apart from the next two Champions League matches, Barça have 16 games left this season making 48 points available. Last season the 4-3 defeat by Atlético meant Real Madrid were six points behind. Barça went on to secure 26 pints from their next ten matches and won the title.