La Liga 2016/17: Malaga 2-0 Barcelona, 5 talking points
When the final whistle was blown at the Santiago Bernabeu, what we saw on the television was an ecstatic Diego Simeone. One could have been forgiven for assuming that the Argentine had just won the Champions League after drawing against Real Madrid, such was the elation that Simeone exuded.
At that moment, the former Inter midfielder not only represented his joy but also resembled how Cules were feeling after the result was finalised. By winter break, Barca fans had given up hope of surpassing Real Madrid to win league, given the fact that the Blancos were 10 points ahead.
However, as Real lost two points to fierce rivals, Atletico Madrid, last evening, Barca had a genuine chance to close the gap—but they blew it as they lost their game against Malaga 2-0.
And here are the 5 talking points…
#5 Samuel Umtiti breaks the duck
When people are asked to enlist the names of the most important Barcelona players, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar and Gerard Pique are some of the names that come up constantly. However, Samuel Umtiti was the invincible one among them.
Ever since joining Barcelona, the Frenchman had never tasted defeat while donning the red and blue shirt. With 18 wins from 18 games, he had a 100% record with the Catalans, but that was broken last night as Sandro Ramirez and Jhony dug the dagger in Barca’s heart.
With that, the charm of luck that Umtiti provided has faded to black.