From an outsider’s point of view, going into the Spanish winter break, Real Madrid seem to be cantering to the La Liga title. Zinedine Zidane’s Los Blancos have been unstoppable this year, going on a run of 37 games unbeaten stretching all the way back to April and now hold a three-point lead over Barcelona with a game in hand.
While it may look like smooth sailing for Real Madrid from this point, former Real Madrid defender Ivan Campo, warned the current crop of players against complacency in their quest for the La Liga, warning them that Barcelona have the capability of coming back strong.
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Speaking to Omnisport, the former Madridista said, “As we are still in December, there are five months to go. The worst part, 'the hill of January' which is quite hard and, basically, the last two months of the season when you have to deal with the Copa del Rey, key games in Champions League and normally teams struggle in that period.”
Asked for his thoughts on whether Barcelona could catch up to Real Madrid, he said, “Can Barcelona reach Real Madrid? Yes, of course. It did happen other seasons when Barcelona was in the top and Real Madrid did reach them. And who won at the end? It was Real Madrid.”
The two-time Champions League winner added, “There is still a long way to go in order to say if Real Madrid will win La Liga or not."
Sergio Ramos’ inspirational captaincy and last-gasp heroics have drawn parallels with the legendary Fernando Hierro. When asked about such comparisons being drawn, Campo said, “I think Sergio is more dynamic. Fernando was more static, having a long amazing pass from my point of view.
“Sergio, perhaps, has better short pass, being more aggressive in attack and everyone is talking about Sergio now because he has scored several winning goals.”
Campo also spoke of Ramos’ never say die attitude saying. “But Sergio is now the player who believes until the end. When the game is over at 90 minutes he still thinks in that two or three minutes of the added time to try to score another goal."
Fitting words for a man whose 94th minute goal brought them into contention for the coveted La Decima in 2014.
Real Madrid might not be playing champagne football at the moment but are showing character by winning points in the dying embers of matches to keep their championship dream alive. Barcelona were cruelly denied three points late in the Clasico by Ramos while the captain again stepped up to score against Deportivo in the final minutes to seal a win for the all-whites.
