Emilio Butragueno: La Liga Is Wide Open Again

Real Madrid legend, Emilio Butragueno, has declared today that he believes La Primera is wide open again, following the results this weekend.

The defending champions managed to pick up a win at Espanyol on Saturday evening whilst Barcelona were beaten by Atletico Madrid in a thriller on Sunday.

Butragueno told AS that anyone can win it now and he thinks that Madrid might even be favourites.

"The league is wide open, that is the truth," he declared.

"Barcelona were not expected to make these mistakes and the consecutive wins that Madrid have picked up means that the gap now is not what anyone would have thought a month ago."

"Right now, the mental advantage is with Real Madrid, because they were far away and now they are very close. We are going to see how Barcelona handle pressure, a pressure that they did not think they would have to contend with."

Indeed, Real Madrid have been incredibly consistent under Juande Ramos and have notched up win after win whilst Barcelona have slipped up.

Butragueno paid tribute to their consistency and also to Lassana Diarra in the centre of midfield.

"They are very secure at the back, I think they have only let in two goals recently and that is the key to their success. The inclusion of Lass in the middle of the pitch has given them a great balance and they are very clinical up front," he concluded.