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Valencia held a nervy Real Madrid team to an extremely entertaining stalemate at the Santiago Bernanbeu last night. The goalless draw has resulted in what was an imperious 10 point lead for Los Blancos over arch rivals FC Barcelona being cut down to just four points, two games before ‘El Clasico’. Jose Mourinho’s men clearly seem to be stuttering domestically, having dropped six points in the last one month.
Indiscipline
Under Jose Mourinho, the world’s most prestigious football club has garnered a nasty reputation for being too ill-mannered on and off the field. One can’t blame the players for their poor behavior given that their manager himself exudes these qualities. Arguing incessantly with referees and always complaining about how everyone is conspiring against them has become a common feature of Real Madrid games these days. At times, the players behave like schoolboys on the field and completely make you forget that they are wearing the jerseys of the ‘FIFA Club of the 20th Century’! Their most recent display of indiscipline was during the away game against Villarreal where Ozil and Ramos were sent off along with Jose Mourinho. The Real Madrid faithful have shown their frustration on their team’s conduct on many occasions this season by booing their own players. The capital side do not show any tolerance when things don’t go their way and miss key players for crucial matches by picking up red cards and bans. They must learn a thing or two from their Catalan counterparts about accepting incorrect decisions as the Blaugrana has been tremendously unlucky in terms of refereeing gaffes throughout the Liga season. If Real Madrid want to be champions, they will first have to behave like one.
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Tough Set Of Fixtures Ahead
The Valencia game kick-started a series of extremely tight contests for the record 31 time La Liga champions. In the midweek, they will travel away to face Atletico Madrid in what promises to be a cracking Madrid derby. Atletico Madrid have become a completely different side following the appointment of Diego Simeone last December. Under the Argentinian manager, Atletico Madrid have surged to 7th position in the Primera Division table and stand a solid chance to qualify for the Champions League with seven games left to play. Personally, I feel that ‘Los Colchoneros’ will take the game to ‘Los Blancos’ at the intimidating Vicente Calderon stadium. Even Barcelona struggled on their travels to Atletico.
Thanks to an inspiring performance by goalkeeper Victor Valdes, they won the game narrowly with a 2-1 margin. ‘El Derbi Madrileno’ will be followed by a tricky home fixture against Sporting Gijon. Now Sporting Gijon may be a relegation battling side, but they surely know how to play against Barca and Real Madrid. Both teams have struggled against the ‘Rojiblancos’ in recent times. What makes this game tricky is the fact that it was Gijon who had beaten Real Madrid 1-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu last season, breaking Jose Mourinho’s record of being unbeaten at home for nine years as a manager. Mou’s men will have last season’s memories playing in their mind ahead of that fixture. And finally, after these two games, Madrid’s biggest test of character will be ‘El Clasico’ at the Camp Nou which will quite obviously be the title deciding game. Considering their recent form in La Liga, it is tough to see that they will not drop points in either of these games. If they do manage to win all of those, they will be truly worthy of being crowned as champions of Spain.
Core of the team has never experienced winning La Liga
Many of Real Madrid’s key players and the core team members haven’t experienced winning the La Liga. By key players, I mean Cristiano Ronaldo, Mesut Ozil, Karim Benzema, Xabi Alonso, Angel di Maria, Ricardo Carvalho, Lassana Diarra and Kaka! While all these players have won all the plaudits and medals in other domestic leagues, for eg. Cristiano Ronaldo has won the EPL, Kaka has won Serie A, and so on, none of them has tasted domestic success (not counting the Copa del Rey) in Spain, neither have they come across a challenger in the same league as FC Barcelona. Not only them, but this list must also include Jose Mourinho himself ! The manager who is nicknamed ‘The Special One’ is still chasing the league title in Spain after conquering Portugal with FC Porto, England with Chelsea FC and Italy with Inter Milan. In fact, they haven’t even found themselves in a position like the one they are in at this stage of the season in La Liga. Real Madrid have always finished behind Pep’s men by April every season. It will be really interesting to watch how all the names mentioned above try and manage to wrap up the Spanish domestic title in these intense closing stages of the season.
Brilliant Barcelona and Mesmerizing Messi stand in the way
Madrid’s will be hoping that Barcelona will have a minor slip-up in the title run-in. In the form that Barca are in at the moment, it looks extremely difficult for them to drop points. After the disappointing 3-2 loss to Osasuna at Pamplona back in January, FC Barcelona has bounced back and how, winning 11 of their last 11 Liga fixtures including comprehensive victories over Valencia, Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao. Barca, who were not their usual selves for most part of the Primera Division season, finally seem to be at their best. Except for that goalless draw against AC Milan at San Siro in the Champions League, Barca have won every single match that they have played in all the competitions sending a strong message to teams from all over Spain and Europe that they are very much the team to beat. The key to Barca’s success yet again this season has been the ‘PlayStation player’(according to Arsene Wenger), Lionel Messi. The Argentine has already reached the 60 goals mark for the season and has single-handedly dismantled teams, with or without Xavi and Iniesta. In the Spanish Supercopa duel between the two Spanish giants back in August 2011, Messi was the difference between the two sides. In the 3-1 triumph at the Bernabeu last November, Messi titled the scales in Barcelona’s once again. Real Madrid face a gargantuan task of holding this league of extra-ordinary gentlemen.
Camp Nou ‘El Clasico’
Possibly the biggest factor that will affect the title deciding ‘El Gran Clasico’ is the fact that it will be held at the ever-so-intimidating Camp Nou, at the heart of Catalonia. In such a high pressure game, the Barcelona supporters will do their best to make the atmosphere as intense as possible. Madrid don’t have happy memories from their last league outing at the Camp Nou, having been hammered 5-0 by the Catalans. However, it is fair to say that the capital-based club has come a long way from that horrible night and are much better prepared to tackle Barca’s tiki-taka game play. Yet, Barcelona remains an impregnable fortress ever since Guardiola became the manager. Madrid can take heart from the fact that they have managed two impressive draws out of their last three trips to the Camp Nou. Deep in their heart and at the back of their minds, Real know that they have never before faced something that they are likely to face in two week’s time.
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