Barcelona Starting To Fear La Liga Loss To Real Madrid
Barcelona had looked all but set to waltz to their 19th ever Primera Division crown midway through the season following their amazing run of victories and seemingly invincible form.
Barcelona had looked all but set to waltz to their 19th ever Primera Division crown midway through the season following their amazing run of victories and seemingly invincible form.
Even when Real Madrid were slowly recovering at the start of the second half of the term, confidence was still running high amongst the ‘cules’ and the Barca-based press, who had hoped that their team would be able to secure the title before the El Clasico showdown at the Bernabeu and before the side entered the final stages of the Champions League. But that is no longer the case.
Madrid’s own AS has reported that several newspapers and pundits across Catalunya are now suffering the very realistic fear that they could lose La Liga to Madrid come the end of the season. The Blaugrana’s 2-2 draw at Valencia allowed the capital giants to trim the gap from six down to just four points. But what has worried the Barcelona-backers most was Los Blancos’ 4-2 win at Sevilla the following day.
Many had expected Madrid to stumble at the Estadio Sanchez Pizjuan, a ground where they have not won at in six years, but their incredible tenacity and fighting spirit, which has more than made up for their lacklustre football, has clearly made an impression on their detractors.
La Vanguardia wrote in their headline: “Madrid Charge Forward” and “Madrid Present Their Title Credentials”.
El Mundo Deportivo meanwhile, said, “For Barcelona, El Clasico will start this Wednesday, but for Madrid , it has already begun.”
Sport was more dramatic: “La Liga Will Be A Heart-Stopper”, before going to add, “Barca Can No Longer Afford To Lose At Madrid”.
Another journalist wrote scathingly, “We [the press and the fans] do not learn. As soon as we start bragging about success, we stumble and we have to put our foot in our mouths.”
The arrival of Juande Ramos has also invoked fear and admiration as the ex-Sevilla coach continue to pile one win on top of another for the Merengues, and it seems no one dares to talk about him around Barcelona. One of the Catalan giants’ former coach, Charly Rexach remarked: “Only Madrid are capable of putting us in this scenario. If the situation were reversed, they would have taken 30 points away from us.”
While Barcelona have won 17 of their last 21 league games, Madrid have won 17 out of their last 19 since Juande Ramos took over just before El Clasico I at the Camp Nou. The reverse clash at the Bernabeu will kick-off at 20:00 CET this Saturday.