SPORTS

   

Atletico Madrid 0-1 Barcelona: Treble is on for Luis Enrique in his first season after Lionel Messi's brilliance clinches La Liga title...                                                                                                                                  

What a difference a year makes. Three-hundred and sixty-five days ago, Atletico Madrid won La Liga at the Nou Camp and now Barcelona have exacted revenge, winning the Spanish title – their 23rd – by beating the former champions in the Vicente Calderon.

When the goal came, it had to be Lionel Messi, for so many reasons. Because he is the star of this team. Because finding his best form in years has inspired Barcelona to reach two cup finals and win this trophy. Because Cristiano Ronaldo had just scored a few minutes earlier against Espanyol, to jeopardise Barcelona's title chances.

It was a beautiful strike, too. Messi fed the ball into Pedro, in the left-hand side of the area. Pedro knew his job was to cut it back to the Barcelona No 10, and did just that. One touch from Messi, rolling his left foot over the ball left Jose Gimenez lunging at thin air. Another micro-touch to the left, unbalanced Diego Godin and a third and final touch saw the ball nestling in the bottom right corner of Oblak's net. 

+33

Luis Enrique's Barcelona celebrated sealing the La Liga title with victory away at Atletico Madrid on Sunday evening 

+33

The stars all turn their heads as celebrations get into full swing on the Vicente Calderon pitch after the full-time whistle 

+33

Atletico Madrid's defenders could only stand and watch as Lionel Messi's genius won Barcelona the La Liga title on Sunday 

+33

Pedro (third from left) played the one-two with Messi in the build-up and spun away to celebrate with his Argentine team-mate

+33

+33

Messi (alongside Neymar, left) motions towards the Barcelona bench after his crucially important goal for the Catalans 

+33

Half of the Barcelona XI rushed towards one corner of the Vicente Calderon to soak up the celebrations 

+33

It was evident what the goal meant to Messi as Barcelona were crowned La Liga champions for the 23rd time in their history

+33

Brazilian Neymar congratulates the phenomenon that is Messi after he swept beyond Jan Oblak in the Atletico goal

Luis Enrique is dreaming of the treble, a word he admitted in a press conference that he likes. He is dreaming of emulating Pep Guardiola's achievement in his first season at Barcelona, which would make the Catalans the only team to do it twice. This was a huge stride in the right direction, and now the coach can rest players in the final match of the league season, at home against Deportivo de la Coruna next weekend.

Last season these teams met six times and Barcelona failed to win on any occasion, only scoring three goals. There has been a sea change this term, with Luis Enrique's side racking up eight goals in four matches against the Rojiblancos.

Diego Simeone was sweating at Atletico's Ciudad Deportiva de Majadahonda training complex this week. Partly because of the intense heatwave that has swept across Spain, and partly because working out how to stop Messi, Neymar and Suarez is arguably the hardest task in football at the moment – though he was saved from having to deal with the latter, thanks to a hamstring strain.

Given that his side had the week off, Simeone forced his players to sit through numerous tactical briefings, using videos of their previous three defeats by Barcelona this season to highlight the changes they needed to make to their game-plan. They looked better defensively in this game than in their other three defeats by Barcelona this season, but as Pep Guardiola pointed out, Messi is unstoppable.

Barcelona knew that with three points, the league was theirs, but they began the game slowly, preferring to save energy and let Atletico toil. Toiling, however, is found in the Rojiblanco bloodstream and Simeone's men started to enjoy themselves. Clever work by Arda Turan on the left earned his side a corner, from which they nearly opened the scoring. In it came, from Koke, and Gimenez's flicked header towards the far corner was tipped away by Claudio Bravo, straining every sinew to reach the ball. 

+33

Neymar's attacking flair was kept under wraps for the most part as Barcelona began strangely subdued 

+33

Diego Simeone delivers instructions to his hosts, who haven't been able to retain their La Liga crown this season

+33

Antoine Griezmann has been a standout performer this season and was tracked by midfield spoiler Sergio Busquets 

+33

Koke (left), Juanfran and Gabi (right) try to regain possession off the tricky Pedro during a tight encounter

+33

Messi looks up to the heavens after Atletico frustrated Barcelona's talisman for long spells during the penultimate game 

+33

Jordi Alba (right) and Andres Iniesta keep their eye on Atletico Madrid midfielder Arda Turan at the Vicente Calderon 

+33

+33

Luis Enrique bellows instructions to his players (left) with Barcelona swarming the referee after he shows Dani Alves a yellow card

+33

Brazilian defender Alves lets fly but was unable to break the deadlock during an engaging game in the Spanish capital 

+33

Fernando Torres has come back into his own at Atletico since a January move and kept Gerard Piqye busy all game

+33

Giminez accidentally leaves one on Iniesta, catching the veteran midfielder flush on the top of his boot

You could already see the route it was going to take, steered round Oblak and into the far corner. But Neymar, perhaps feeling the pressure of the situation, decided to aim for the near post and blazed the ball over the bar. It did not matter. Neither did the fact that Pedro's effort from distance flew millimetres wide of Oblak's top-right corner. What did, was that Bravo was alert to make a smart stop from a Guilherme Siqueira drive, late on. 

Atletico president Enrique Cerezo remembered that last season, Barcelona supporters applauded them off the field, despite Godin's header denying Barcelona the title. 'We have fantastic memories of winning La Liga last season at Camp Nou and the treatment we received from the fans of Barca,' said Cerezo. 'So if Barca win La Liga today, I hope we can celebrate with them.

+33

+33

There was more of a mixed reception, with the bad blood that has shot up between these sides in recent meeting – red cards, Arda Turan throwing his boot at the linesman, Neymar aggravating Atletico fans with his flicks and tricks – with some choosing to applaud the new league champions, others opting to hurl abuse.

But in the end, Messi's 54th goal in 54 games this season in all competitions made the difference – not to mention his 30 assists – with Barcelona supporters now looking forward to welcoming the team home next week, with two finals to follow.

They will be spilling out of the bars and dancing around the Canaletes fountain, which is shrouded in legend, which sits at the top of Las Ramblas, as they have done since the 1930s, when the club wins a trophy. If all goes to plan, they will be doing it twice more, too.