La Liga, Week 34: El Clasico, And The End Of All Things

Nevertheless, the score was locked at 1-1 until the 59th minute, when Arda Turan unleashed an absolute beast of a shot from distance. The Spanish announcers said that the ball had come “all the way from Turkey” to save Atleti’s Liga campaign, if that gives you some perspective. The Turk would finish off the match only two minutes later, as he controlled a long ball from Godín in the area, turned and blasted it in with his left foot. He was a wonder to behold today, and Atleti are pretty lucky that he flew all the way from Turkey just to save their season.

Toquero scored the game’s lone goal in the 12th minute, but the match was really over much before that: Racing, a side that has already booked their ticket for Segunda next season, couldn’t even muster the energy to try to defend against Bilbao’s second-stringers. It’s sort of sad to see a team so despondent; even in front of a well-meaning home crowd, Racing couldn’t find the energy to get up for this match.