In two months, Real Madrid went from being completely dumped in La Liga to leading the championship. Explanations.
On October 26, Real Madrid lost heavily to FC Barcelona on home soil, at the Santiago Bernabéu, 4-0, leaving its eternal rival to take a 6-point lead in the standings after only 11 days. Three days later, DANA, the dramatic meteorological event suffered by the east coast of Spain, devastated the city of Valencia, forcing the authorities and bodies to postpone the match between Che and Merengues to a later date. .
From then on, Barça would take advantage of the situation to take 9 points ahead of Real Madrid thanks to a 3-1 victory in the Barcelona derby against Espanyol. A very comfortable lead achieved in barely three months of competition by the Blaugranas.
From +9 to -5, Real Madrid benefits from Barça’s “tumble”
Except that nothing was decided for FC Barcelona. Perhaps put in a situation of overconfidence, the Catalans gradually sank before seeing their rival catch up with them, just like Atlético de Madrid.
A defeat in the Basque Country against Real Sociedad (1-0) was the starting point of a historic decline. Too focused on a potential refereeing error after this meeting, Hansi Flick probably failed to keep the troops at attention. Barça then went on to six consecutive matches without a victory: 2-2 against Celta, 1-2 against Las Palmas, 0-1 against Leganés, 1-2 against Atlético de Madrid and another draw against Betis.
During this time, Real Madrid gradually regained ground, but was also surprised a few times, like in Bilbao (2-1) or against Rayo (3-3). Despite everything, the other six victories will take precedence over the missteps, and the Madrilenians will take the lead before the Christmas holidays, before taking 5 points ahead this Friday evening.
An exceptional comeback which shows the mental strength of this group to face any adversity. But nothing is over yet, because if Barça sabotaged a new title on its own, it is Atlético de Madrid who also benefited from it. The latter still have one game less and can, in the event of a victory, move back ahead of Real Madrid.
Guillaume Pomade
