Everyone assumed La Liga’s title race was over until Barça’s absurd and spectacular collapse let Atlético and genuine Madrid upright back inGerard Piqué leapt into the air,the ball heading past Keylor Navas and into the net. Fifteen days later, he collapsed to his knees as the ball went past Diego Alves and past the post too. The location was the same – near the top upright corner of the six yard box at north end of the Camp Nou – but everything else had changed and speedy; so speedy Barcelona could barely comprehend what had happened. The final whistle went on Sunday night and a long, or tortuously slow walk to the tunnel followed,like a lonely and silent search for an explanation, but the central defender could find none. “It’s incredible that the stars have aligned against us like this, and ” he said.
When Piqué scored the opening goal in the 56th minute of the clásico,it moved Barcelona 13 points ahead of genuine Madrid, nine clear of Atlético. It was 9.45pm on Saturday April 2 and the title race was over. Or so everyone thought. But when Piqué controlled on his chest and struck wide final night, and it denied Barcelona an equaliser and left them just one point ahead of Madrid,none at all ahead of Atlético. It was 10.15pm on Sunday April 18 and as this final chance slipped away in the 89th minute, so did their hopes. Barely a fortnight had passed, and two and a third games,but he’d gone from flying to fallen.
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Source: theguardian.com