The idea that La Liga is a two-team league has gone up in smoke in the past few seasons, with Atletico Madrid breaking up the Real Madrid and Barcelona duopoly. Yet, it’s still a surprise when Barcelona and Real Madrid are not topping the La Liga table, as is the case at present – Madrid are 2 nd with 15 points, with Barcelona on 4th , two points behind.
Yet, the manner and frequency of these two La Liga giants dropping points hints at a deeper malaise, one that could be more permanent if not corrected by their managers soon enough.
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Here are 5 reasons why Barcelona and Real Madrid are struggling this season
#1 Ronaldo’s form and Messi’s absence
You don’t need an abundance of brain cells to know that if Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are misfiring, Real Madrid and Barcelona will not play as well as they normally do. While Ronaldo and Messi’s teammates are no mugs, you cannot truly compensate for the loss of football’s two greatest players.
Ever since he returned from a successful summer with Portugal, Cristiano Ronaldo has looked off the pace and erratic. It's a combination of mental and physical fatigue, the result being that Ronaldo has often hindered Madrid's attacking play. With Ronaldo repeatedly appearing unhappy with his performances, Zinedine Zidane faces his a true test of his man-management powers.
As for Lionel Messi, there's not much Barcelona can do. The Argentine has looked injury prone over the last couple of seasons, and Barcelona will have to get used to it as Messi ages. Where the Blaugrana have failed though, is in not anticipating that Neymar would have come back tired after the Olympics and thus would not compensate for Messi's absence like he did last season.
#2 The defensive midfield problem
This is a flaw that clearly amplifies how poor Barcelona and Real Madrid have been at squad planning. Given the manner in which they dominate games, La Liga's giants don't ordinarily have much of a need for a defensive midfielder. However, the aura around these sides is disappearing and even minnows aren't afraid of taking the game to both Madrid and Barcelona
For Real Madrid, the problem is very clear. Zinedine Zidane has a 100% record when Casemiro starts for Los Blancos. In his absence, Madrid's midfield falls apart, as they're not as defensively secure, as evidenced by the manner in which they conceded 6 goals in their last four draws. Madrid erred in not signing a backup for Casemiro, as Toni Kroos and Mateo Kovacic aren't similar players, resulting in Zidane having to rejig his system into a less effective one.
Barcelona, on the other hand, deserve less criticism for not anticipating their defensive midfield issues. Sergio Busquets has been Mr. Dependable for Barcelona for so many years, and to see him struggle for form is truly surprising. Yet, there's no plan B for Barcelona, as moving Mascherano back into midfield will also reduce their attacking impetus. Luis Enrique's only chance is to patiently hope that Busquets gets back to his best sooner rather than later
#3 Fatigue
Honestly, this is probably the most accurate reason for Real Madrid and Barcelona's troubles this years. It's a perennial cycle in football - top clubs experience a dip in form after a summer with major international tournaments.
This summer was unique in that both the Euros and the Copa America took place, which basically guaranteed that every starting member and top 5 substitutes of Barcelona and Madrid spent the summer going all out for their nations. With so many players not having the best of pre-seasons, it's no surprise that Madrid and Barcelona have dropped so many points already.
Another tactical issue is that the way Real Madrid and Barcelona setup to play, any mental fatigue inhibits the consistency of their attacking play. It was visible in Barcelona hammering Celtic and Leganes one day and losing to Alaves another day. In contrast, Atletico Madrid are very used to playing attritional football, and have absorbed a gruelling summer to top the La Liga table
#4 La Liga is much more competitive this year
For all of the assertions from the English press that the Premier League is the most competitive league in the world, the truth is that La Liga is a truly competitive affair, with the only reason for the heavy defeats handed out by Barcelona and Real Madrid in previous seasons being the superior quality they possess going forward.
Barcelona’s 5-1 thrashing of minnows CD Leganes was a perfect microcosm of La Liga’s competitiveness, ironically enough. While the scoreline on paper pointed to a stroll in the park for Barcelona, the truth was anything but. Leganes repeatedly troubled the Barcelona backline and spurned about 3-4 good chances to score.
Atletico Madrid’s success against the top two giants of La Liga has exposed their flaws, and opposition managers approach games against Barcelona and Real Madrid with a view to getting a positive result, with the likes of Eibar, Villarreal, Deportivo Alaves, Las Palmas and Celta Vigo all achieving that end goal.
#5 Zinedine Zidane and Luis Enrique’s tactical intransigence
Barcelona and Real Madrid are two of the biggest clubs in world football. Yet, their managers are rookies in management, relatively of course. Zinedine Zidane’s previous managerial experience was the Real Madrid Castilla side while Luis Enrique has only been managing at the top level for 5 years.
Young managers are notoriously inflexible in their tactics, something Pep Guardiola noted was a flaw when he was at Barcelona. Zinedine Zidane has a very clear idea of his playing style, with a clear demarcation of attack and defence, and a slight preponderance to counter-attacking football. When Madrid face deep-lying sides though, that system falls apart, and Madrid are left banging their heads against a defensive block, to no avail.
Luis Enrique has been inflexible as well, but it’s more a case of ‘if it works, don’t fix it’. The Barcelona boss even recruited in such a way that he’s not left with much of an alternative when things go awry, as Arda Turan, Paco Alcacer and Denis Suarez are simply poorer versions of the players they replace on the pitch. Enrique needs a direct player to speed things up in the final third for Barcelona, and risks losing out on trophies if Barcelona remain one-dimensional throughout the season.
