La Liga Preview: Real Madrid Keeping Track of Barcelona
The La Liga battle is at its peak, as Barcelona and Real Madrid have separated from other clubs and are fighting a two-way battle for the top spot. Both teams have hardly given anything away to other clubs. The battle between the giants has gained a lot
of attention from fans all over the world and La Liga has become one of the most heated contests on the planet.
In the beginning of the season, Real Madrid and Barcelona faltered on a couple of occasions and threw some points away. However, as the season progressed, the domination of these Spanish giants became obvious and they sailed through the matches against weaker
teams. Jose Mourinho, the manager of Real Madrid, maintained psychological superiority as well. Madrid had an unbeaten run, before the match against Barcelona, and enjoyed a one point lead in the table.
However, this factor did not help Mourinho in his match against his archrivals as the Catalans completely overran the Los Blancos. In one of the best performances of Pep Guardiola’s side, Real Madrid was humiliated by the hosts, reminding them of the fact
that they still had a lot of work to do. Also, after the match, Barcelona took a two-point lead over their rivals, which has again shifted the psychological warfare in Pep Guardiola’s favour.
Since the match against Madrid, the Catalans have given a series of extra-ordinary results against other teams in the La Liga. In the last seven matches, including the one against Almeria which was played a week before El Clasico, the Catalans scored 31
goals. This is definitely an incredible achievement which says a lot about the level of confidence felt by Guardiola’s men. Apart from this, the Catalans are showing improvements in other areas as well. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/David-Villa-c10629 and Pedro have started scoring goals, including
two goals each in the last match in the local derby against Espanyol. Now, Guardiola does not need to rely solely on http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lionel-Messi-c22296, who was scoring most of the goals for his team previously.
Apart from this, there are some other things that have worked in Barcelona’s favour, in the past few weeks. Three Barcelona players, i.e. Messi, Xavi and Iniesta, were nominated for the FIFA Ballon d’Or award. This was a big recognition of the talents of
these players and has resulted in their form improving. Xavi and Iniesta are finding goals more than they used to do in the past. Also, these players have established their superiority in the midfield, coming up with a high percentage of possession in their
fixtures. All these factors have resulted in boosting the confidence of the Catalans who have transformed into the best side in the club’s history.
Real Madrid, on the other hand, is now playing the game of chasing, trying to keep track of Barcelona. Even Jose Mourinho admitted that Madrid would have to keep Barcelona in sight. The only way to do that is by winning their matches as well, which Mourinho
is doing pretty well at the moment. They had a little scare this weekend, against Sevilla, but a late goal by Angel Di Maria saved the day. However, desperation was visible on the faces of Madrid players, who were shown 9 yellow cards and 1 red card during
the game.
The most important factor for both clubs is to keep trying to hold on to maximum points and wait for the other team to waver. This balance game will swing till the end of the season, and it is becoming obvious that the title would be decided on a single
match, the away leg of El Clasico, at Santiago Bernabeu.
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