Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone hails Luis Suarez and called him ‘a man of character’ after his goal secured the side’s La Liga triumph with a 2-1 victory over Real Valladolid on Saturday.
Suarez began the season crying after being
forced out of Barcelona but ended it with his 21st goal of the season earning
Atletico a first league triumph since 2014, this one at the expense of Real
Madrid.
“It was hard last summer, the way that
Barcelona despised me, under-appreciated me,” said Suarez. “Atletico
opened the door to give me the chance to show that I could still be a
force.”
Coach Simeone said of his evergreen 34-year-old striker: “Suarez is a man of character. He’s defiant, he’s a goalscorer.”
A trophy-less season for Real means more
questions will be asked of coach Zinedine Zidane’s future. “I will discuss
with the club in the next few days, quietly. But not now. We will see in the
next few days,” said the Frenchman.
Atletico knew victory would guarantee them
the title regardless of what Real Madrid did at home to Villarreal but it was
never comfortable, with Valladolid taking a shock early lead.
Real Madrid were behind too for most of the
afternoon but Karim Benzema equalised in the 87th minute and Luka Modric even
scored a late winner for 2-1 at Valdebebas, leaving Atletico hanging on at the
end, as they were suddenly one goal away from squandering it all.
When the final whistle blew, the players
ran onto the pitch, Suarez underneath a pile of red and white shirts, with
Europe’s most nerve-wracking and unpredictable title race finally complete.
Just over a week ago, Simeone said this was
the “Suarez Zone” and so it proved, the Uruguayan scoring the winner
against Osasuna last week to keep the title in Atletico’s hands and then again
on the last day to put their name on the trophy.
This is only the second time in 17 years
that a team other than Barcelona or Real Madrid have won the title, with Atleti
claiming the other one under Simeone in 2014.
Atletico went into the game having been top
since December.
But they have done nothing the easy way
this season, with their 10-point lead in February cut to two in May and their
position at the top relying on numerous slip-ups from both Real Madrid and
Barcelona.
So it was apt that faced with beating Real
Valladolid, who were 19th in the table, they still had to scrape over the line.
Suarez had a couple of early openings but
any hopes for a comfortable afternoon were dashed in the 18th minute when
Valladolid took the lead.
It came from an Atletico corner as Yannick
Carrasco lost the ball and Valladolid broke at speed, pinging passes through
midfield and finally through to Oscar Plano, the former Real Madrid youngster
who pulled away and fired past Jan Oblak.
There was plenty of time left and the other
consolation for Atletico was Real Madrid fell behind too, Gerard Moreno’s poked
pass causing confusion at the back, with Yeremi Pino prodding Villarreal into
the lead.
Atletico pushed as Suarez’s effort curled
wide and Felipe headed straight at Jordi Masip but they also looked for calm.
Both title contenders were trailing at half-time
but Atletico came out with renewed vigour and a crucial few minutes fell their
way.
Real Madrid struck first, Benzema heading
in Casemiro’s cross before Angel Correa levelled for Atletico as well,
collecting on the edge of the area and firing through the legs of Jawad El
Yamiq.
Atletico’s equaliser, though, was made all
the more precious after Real Madrid’s was ruled out, Benzema’s left arm shown
to be offside by VAR.
Valladolid might have scored again but Shon
Weissman headed over with the goal gaping and then Atletico took the lead, a
gift of a pass-back by Sergi Guardiola allowing Suarez to skip clear.
Suarez slid the ball past Masip before
ending up under a pile of Atletico teammates.
Real Madrid equalised in the 87th minute,
Benzema curving a delightful finish into the top corner and it was still not
over, Modric scoring again to leave Atletico with some nail-biting final
moments. They got over the line.
