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Diego Simeone: Lionel Messi "decisive factor" in La Liga title race

Simeone: Messi
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Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone describes Barcelona forward Lionel Messi as the "decisive factor" in the La Liga title race.

Diego Simeone has played down the prospect of Atletico Madrid mounting a late La Liga title charge as they cannot compete with a Lionel Messi-inspired Barcelona.

The Catalan giants came close to losing for the first time in the league this season at the weekend, finding themselves two goals down with two minutes of normal time to play against Sevilla.

A half-fit Messi was brought off the bench and helped his side to a dramatic 2-2 draw at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, however, bagging the leveller himself with a trademark long-range finish into the bottom corner.

Simeone's men are now back to within nine points of Barca after beating Deportivo La Coruna 1-0 on Sunday, but the Argentine does not expect to close the gap fully due to his compatriot's form.

"We're having a very important league campaign. We've already seen what happened at Sevilla," he told reporters at his post-match presser.

"Without Messi, Sevilla would have won 2-0. With Messi on the pitch, Barca won 2-0, although the final score was 2-2. Messi is the decisive factor. We want to keep improving our numbers from last season."

Barcelona welcome Leganes to Camp Nou in their next league outing, while Atletico travel to city rivals Real Madrid.

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Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann during the Champions League match against Leicester City on April 18, 2017
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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Barcelona14111242142834
2Atletico MadridAtletico148512181329
3Real Madrid1283125111427
4Villarreal127322319424
5GironaGirona146352018221
6Mallorca146351312121
7Osasuna136341720-321
8Athletic Bilbao135531913620
9Real BetisBetis145541616020
10Real Sociedad135351110118
11Celta Vigo145362224-218
12Rayo Vallecano124441313016
13Sevilla134361218-615
14Leganes133551316-314
15Getafe142751011-113
16AlavesAlaves144191524-913
17Las PalmasLas Palmas143381825-712
18Valencia122461219-710
19Espanyol133191226-1410
20Real ValladolidValladolid142391027-179


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