No surprise that Athletic Club, Atletico Madrid play to draw in La Liga restart match

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The fact that Athletic Club and Atletico Madrid battled to a 1-1 draw on Sunday was extremely predictable. The La Liga match literally had a tie written all over it. Even non-active Spanish soccer fans from all the way in North America could literally smell a tie coming.

On Saturday, in previewing the game, I successfully stated, “The chances of this game being a draw are actually rather high. It is interesting that both Athletic Club and Atletico Madrid are already in the double-digit totals in draws, and each have more draws than wins or losses,” in the Sports Daily piece, “Athletic Club and Atletico Madrid highlight La Liga action in its return.”

For heaven sakes, the chances of me predicting a tie in any sport, and it coming to fruition is so minimal, it is remarkable. For it to come to fruition, is quite frankly mind-boggling.

On Sunday morning, Athletic Club and Atletico Madrid finished 90 minutes of action without a winner. Athletic Club forward Iker Muniain of Pamplona, Spain opened the scoring with a goal in the 37th minute to put Athletic Club up 1-0. Then only two minutes later, Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa of Lagarto, Brazil tied the game in the 39th minute to even the score.

This was the first game for Athletic Club and Atletico Madrid since the coronavirus shutdown. Atletico Madrid had not played since stunning Liverpool in the round of 16 of Champions League action by a score of 3-2 (4-2 on aggregate) way back on March 11. Athletic Club’s last game was on March 8 when they defeated Valladolid by a score of 4-1.

With the draw, Atletico Madrid is now in a three-way tie for fourth in La Liga standings with Real Sociedad and Getafe. Atletico Madrid has a record of 11 wins, four losses, and 13 draws for 46 points. Athletic Club is at nine wins, eight losses and 11 draws for 38 points.

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