Barcelona 4-2 Eibar: 5 Talking Points as Luis Enrique's side lose La Liga title to Real Madrid

Why Barcelona lost the title – not doing the job against the small teams

Barcelona’s inability to get the job done against the smaller teams cost them the title

Real Madrid have had a very clear plan this season, rest and preserve Cristiano Ronaldo for the big games while getting the job done without their superstars against smaller teams. And it worked out very well for them, given that they lifted their first league title since 2011-12, their 33rd overall.

A quick look at Barcelona’s results this season and some games stand out. Celta Vigo 4-3 Barcelona, Barcelona 0-0 Malaga, Real Betis 1-1 Barcelona, Deportivo la Coruna 2-1 Barcelona and Malaga 2-0 Barcelona - all games in which Luis Enrique’s side dropped points against teams in the bottom half of the table.

Madrid, on the other hand, dropped points against teams in the bottom half of the table on only 3 occasions, the two draws against Las Palmas and the 2-1 defeat against Valencia. They dropped only 7 points as against to the 13 dropped by Barcelona, and this played a pivotal role in where the title finally ended up being at.

Madrid didn’t go for the jugular against the smaller teams, at least not always and were happy to grind out wins with margins of one or two goals. Barcelona, on the other hand, missed a trick as they were often exposed and outscored by these teams with their frail defence was put to the sword. It is in these games that Los Blancos won the title and the Blaugrana lost it.