Real Madrid is no longer the biggest team in Spain, nor are they even the second biggest with Atletico Madrid overtaking them on goal difference by scoring five goals against Cadiz. Although this is not uncommon – Atletico have now finished above Real four times in the past six years – the real question is how much it matters. In fact, the answer is a lot, or at least it should be.
The answer might start to take shape on Saturday night in Seville when Real Madrid face Osasuna in the final of the Copa del Rey. Furthermore, when the first leg of the Champions League semifinal with Manchester City comes to a close next Tuesday, we’ll be closer to knowing. A definitive answer will take another week and the consequences might take a little longer to become clear.
Madrid have conceded multiple goals in their past three league matches, and have lost three out of their past six games. The first of those defeats was against Barcelona on March 19, which may well be the reason the others have followed. Barça’s lead no longer matters because it has become so big – that’s the theory, anyway.
Nacho was asked on Thursday if the players’ minds were not in it: “I’d be lying if I said otherwise.” There were some who were not there in body, let alone spirit. Karim Benzema, Vinicius Junior, Eduardo Camavinga, Luka Modric, and Thibaut Courtois have been absent in recent games. If they were still in the title race, it is hard to believe that the absences would have been the same. Hard to imagine the attitude being this way, either.
The frustration is unavoidable, both short term and season-long, and watching Atletico go past is not great. Watching Barcelona since the Clasico also suggested that maybe the league race wasn’t already over, that pressure could have been applied, an opportunity lost because it wasn’t expected. Just the past six games alone have cost Real nine points. Had they won them all, Barcelona’s lead would be five, game very definitely on.
It leaves a lingering feeling that the real difference between Madrid and Barcelona wasn’t 11 points. More to the point, it really shouldn’t have been. This is not just a late-season collapse, no justification, the old “didn’t want to play anyway.” However, Barcelona’s point total shouldn’t be overlooked – having 82 this early is seriously impressive.
Ancelotti knows that at boardroom level and beyond there have always been doubters, those who dismiss him as “only” a man-manager. A reminder that his team is “well-worked” and that “if we have the good fortune to win the Copa del Rey this season, this team will have won every trophy possible in two years. There are some teams that do not win that in a lifetime.”
