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Diego Costa jumped up and down on the spot. Twelve yards away stood Diego Alves and he stood tall: the only goalkeeper ever to have saved penalties from both Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo had just stopped one from Costa too, and it hurt. As the Atlético Madrid striker stood over the spot, Valencia's goalkeeper had approached him and kicked at the turf, lifting it. Behind him, a tiny silver statuette of the Virgin Mary stood in the net. The psychological battle had begun. Leaning in, close now, Alves whispered: "I've seen you take penalties before: I'm going to save this." And then he saved it.
Now, just seven minutes later, here they were again: face to face. Another penalty, another battle. Costa jumped on the spot, hopping up and down like Yosemite Sam on his hat – once, twice, three times, forcing down the grass, the frustration of failure still gnawing away at him. Over on the touchline, Atlético Madrid's manager, Diego Simeone, was shouting for Raúl García to take it but his voice was drowned out, carried away on the chants, and Costa wasn't letting this one go: it was time for redemption. He ran forward and smashed the ball into the top corner. "Luckily, the lads didn't hear me," Simeone grinned later.
He wasn't grinning now, though. Not yet. When the ball hit the net, it took Costa level with Ronaldo at the top of the goalscoring charts. Seventeen goals in 15 games, one every 81 minutes. It was the 81st minute and it was his second of the night – he'd opened the scoring in the 58th minute. It also put Atlético 3-0 up and secured yet another victory. But Simeone wasn't satisfied. Screwing up his face, he punched the air in celebration. Then he unclenched his fist and held up a finger. There was an urgency about him as he shouted: "Uno más, uno más!" One more, one more! Atlético accelerated and so did the fans: the noise rose, reaching a pitch that was almost desperation – I love you Atléti, but we only have nine minutes to save the earth.
A chant went up: "A por el cuarto, Atléti, a por el cuarto!" – Atléti, go for the fourth! So they went for it. Throughout the second half there had been a real connection, the volume rising with every attack, every time Atlético hunted down their opponents, chasing them, with every run from Costa, every shot. Louder and louder until explosion seemed the only way out; the goals came as a release. But the fourth didn't come at all. When the final whistle went, there was a moment's doubt, a sense of disappointment that crept over them. Then it slipped away. From the centre of the pitch, the players applauded the fans and the fans applauded them back.
A chance had been lost. For the 54th week Barcelona were top of the table, a new record. One more goal at the Calderón and they would not have been. Atlético Madrid would.
Atlético haven't been top this late in the season since 1995-96, when they won the double. "It's true we would have liked to be leaders," said the club captain, Gabi, smiling. "But we're satisfied." Rightly so: after 16 games, Atlético have won 14, including victory over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu. Only twice have they dropped points: they drew at Villarreal, who also drew with Real Madrid and on Saturday narrowly lost at Barcelona; and they lost 1-0 at Espanyol thanks to a freak own goal.
Nor is it just Spain. In the Champions League, Atlético picked up 16 points in the group stages, going through unbeaten – one of only three teams to do so, with Real Madrid and Manchester United. Sully Muntari claimed on Sunday that Atlético were the team that Milan wanted, describing them as the "weakest" available. To which, it's tempting to reply: "Not half as weak as you sunshine." And to which Gabi replied on Sunday night, with a joke and a cheeky smile: "I hope we get Milan. And who's Muntari?" The answer is obvious: someone who hasn't seen Atlético play.
If Muntari wanted to know more about Milan's opponents he could have done with watching this 3-0 victory over Valencia; this was Atlético all over, right down to the fact that before the game the Zamora trophy for last season's best goalkeeper and the LFP award for best coach, voted on by Spain's players and managers, remained on their stand, unclaimed and un-presented. Simeone had decided that there would be no pre-match presentation: there was a game to focus on.
There was a moment on Sunday night when Juanfran gave the ball away. For a second it looked like Valencia would get away … but it was a second. Suddenly, before they could react, there were four men in red and white around the ball. There's a collective intensity about Atlético that few can live with: no team makes more challenges than they do. Valencia were the only team to have scored in every league game so this season, a run that went back 26 matches, but then they visited the Calderón. No one has conceded fewer shots or goals than Atlético. But if that makes them sound defensive, think again: Real Madrid, the league's top scorers, have only three more goals. Raúl García had been on the pitch two minutes when he scored: it was his 10th league goal, making him Spain's top scoring midfielder.
Then there's Costa, La Liga's most decisive player this season. The first penalty came from nothing more than an aimless punt. Costa got under it by the halfway line, headed the ball into the air, fought to get into position as it bounced, backing into Jérémy Mathieu, brought it down and then accelerated into the area, where he was bundled over. It is often the only way to stop him and it is a way that suits him. Another similar dash had almost brought another penalty before that and the first goal had been a swift break from just outside Atlético's area. Costa received on the left, well inside his own half, and sprinted into Valencia's box to score.
When Messi dribbles, it sometimes seems as if he barely kicks the ball: like a faithful dog, it just runs alongside him, always to heel. When Costa does, the dog's more interested in cocking its leg up a tree or sniffing other dogs' arses; he has to drag it with him, tugging hard at the lead. The ball runs ahead or gets left behind; his progress is rarely smooth or aesthetic, the line rarely straight. He appears to bundle through, defenders hanging off him like a family of Underwoods, bouncing off him, desperate to bring him down. At times it looks like brute strength, and there's plenty of that, but watch his feet, his balance: when the ball gets left behind, few adjust so fast or so effectively. There is talent too, lots of it.
"With space, he is absolutely lethal," said a sighing Miroslav Djukic, the Valencia manager. Few are as powerful, few are so quick, and none are so relentless, so bloody determined to get there, even if it means yanking at that choke chain. Costa will not be denied, brows lowering, eyes narrowing. Sunday night's second penalty said it all and so did the reaction to it. Costa had missed one; rather than passing up the next, he grabbed at the ball. He is the image of Atlético. "I always want more," Simeone said afterwards, "I don't like passivity."
When a few moments later Simeone insisted that his team was going to go "game by game", there was a collective giggle in the Calderón press room. The cliché has been repeated so often that it has become a kind of in-joke, and the coach is enjoying it too. Each week, his inquisitors must find another way of asking him if he can win the league; each week he grins and insists he's going game by game. Which they are. But, game by game, they're getting closer. Closer to the top, closer perhaps to the title.
It was just before midnight when Simeone was asked how it was possible for Atlético Madrid not to be top. "Because Barcelona's statistics are stratospheric," he said. But Barcelona's stats are Atlético's stats too: played 16, won 14, drawn one, lost one, goal difference +34. They're five ahead of Real and on course for 100 points, a league record. Only goals scored separate Atlético and Barça now: 44 scored and 10 conceded versus 43 scored and nine conceded. "Barcelona's statistics are incredible and it's very, very hard to keep up with them," Simone said. Keep up? On Sunday night, Atlético were a solitary goal away from pulling out in front.
Talking points
• Turns out that Neymar's pretty good. In the last minute he hit the bar. The linesman's flag was up anyway, but it would have been a ludicrously good way to complete a hat-trick, preceded by some stunning footwork and a neat one-two. It would also have been a second hat-trick in a week. He'd got the first from the penalty spot – Barcelona's past five penalties have been scored by five different players – and the second from Xavi's pass and Alexis's lay-off. Barcelona needed it too: although the stats showed that Villarreal had only had one attempt on target all game (to Barcelona's nine), this was far from easy.
• Two goals and one man down, Real Madrid seemed to be heading for a defeat for a long time until Pepe headed in the equaliser. By the full-time whistle, Osasuna might feel that they had got relatively little reward for their performance. For much of the second half, a 3-1 scoreline appeared closer than the eventual 2-2, even if clear chances were few. Oriol Riera, who last season played for Alcorcón and was Leo Messi's room mate when he was coming up through the Barcelona youth system, scored them both. As for Real, they were left lamenting a penalty on Luka Modric not given and a red card for Sergio Ramos that was: the first yellow looked like it was not even a foul; the second was daft. Ramos is now a solitary career red away from having Paul Hardcastle sing his theme tune.
• Betis sacked Pepe Mel … and lost 5-1 at Real Sociedad. The first from Imanol Agirretxe was a beauty.
• Santa Cruz is coming to town. Roque had been on the pitch for a minute. With his first touch he won a free-kick; with his second he scored a brilliant header to give Málaga a 1-0 win over Getafe – and quite probably save Bernd Schuster's job.
Results: Sevilla 1-1 Athletic, Rayo 0-2 Granada, Real Sociedad 5-1 Betis, Osasuna 2-2 Real Madrid, Málaga 1-0 Getafe, Atlético 3-0 Valencia, Almería 0-0 Espanyol, Levante 2-1 Elche, Barcelona 2-1 Villarreal, Valladolid-Celta, Monday night.
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