Twitter explodes as Atletico Madrid pip Real Madrid to La Liga title

Atletico Madrid's 2-1 win over Valladolid helped them beat Real Madrid to their first La Liga title since the 2013-14 season.

Real Madrid's hopes of winning the La Liga title were crushed even though they pulled off an exciting 2-1 win against Villarreal on the final day of the season. Real Madrid desperately needed to win the game and they also needed Atletico Madrid to lose theirs against Valladolid.

There was no shortage of drama on the final day of the La Liga season as Atletico Madrid fell behind in the 18th minute of the game to offer a ray of hope to Real Madrid but it was quelled immediately.

Yeremi Pino latched onto a Gerard Moreno through-ball in the 20th minute of the Real Madrid-Villarreal game to give the visitors the lead and make things difficult for Los Blancos. Zinedine Zidane's men came close through Marcos Asensio and Luka Modric but they couldn't bury their chances in the first half.

Eder Militao nearly restored parity with a header from the edge of the area in the 52nd minute. Two minutes later, Real Madrid looked to have got a breakthrough as Karim Benzema headed home off a Casemiro cross. However, the goal was chalked off as the Frenchman appeared to stray offside as the ball was sprayed into the box.

Shortly after, Angel Correa equalized for Atletico Madrid against Valladolid to further complicate things for Los Blancos.

10 minutes later Rodrygo pressed Villarreal goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli to win the ball inside the area and the ball rolled to Benzema who couldn't apply the finishing touches on it and struck wide.

Immediately after that, Atletico Madrid secured the lead in their game against Valladolid through Luis Suarez to crush Real Madrid's title dreams. Real Madrid equalized in the 87th minute through Benzema but it looked like it came too late to be anything more than a consolation.

Four minutes later, Luka Modric brought down a Benzema cross and volleyed it home, thanks to a deflection, to give Real Madrid the lead. But Atletico Madrid held on to their slender lead to just about cross the finish line.

Real Madrid started their night with 81 points while Atletico Madrid had 83. Real Madrid needed all three points to have a chance of winning the La Liga title. In the event of Atletico Madrid losing to Valladolid, a win would have seen them overtake the Rojiblancos and pip them to the La Liga title.

Real Madrid needed all three points to have a chance of pipping Atletico Madrid to the La Liga title

In the event of Atletico Madrid playing out a draw against Valladolid, the title would have been decided on the basis of goal difference. Diego Simeone's men went into their last match of the season with a goal difference of +41, superior to Real Madrid's +38.

None of that came to matter though as Atletico Madrid ended up winning 2-1 on the night even though Real Madrid got all three points against Villarreal. Let's take a look at how Twitter reacted.

Atletico Madrid's winner was scored by Luis Suarez.

Here's the goal that sealed the deal for Atletico Madrid.

Well, this is not a great look for Barcelona.

The most heartbreaking moment for Real Madrid fans was this:

This La Liga season has had far too many twists and turns.

Meanwhile...

Gotta feel for Karim Benzema.

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

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Edited by Shambhu Ajith