Real Madrid’s defeat: What does it mean to La Liga’s title race
Unexpected result at El Clasico, as Real Madrid got defeated by their rival, Barcelona by 0-4. The highlight of La Liga’s Matchday 29 was an amazing show by Barca and the players.
Pierre Emerick Aubameyang scored a double, while Ronald Araujo and Ferran Torres picked one each to totally knock-out first place Real, at Bernabeu.
The question is, who benefits from this El Clasico match?
Chasing as second position holder, the answer would be Sevilla. Ahead of El Clasico, the gap between Real Madrid and Rojiblancos is 10 points.
After the Madrid club’s defeat, Sevilla should have grabbed their chance to shorten it, but they failed to do so.
Julen Lopetegui’s team showed an inconsistent form with very bad timing when they drew 0-0 with Sociedad, at home. It was Sevilla’s 3 straight league games without victory (3D), and they could only blame themselves with these unwanted results.
Barca should be happy as they beat their rival and break the streak of 5 wins. But the gap between the two has been 12 points when Xavi appointed, and it did not change, despite the victory at Bernabeu.
What Barca took from El Clasico, was an achievement they had yet to get since 2019. But winning the Clasico has always been one of the greatest gifts to Cules, even if Barca did not win anything by the end of the season.
Another question has been repeated since Barcelona beat Real Madrid 4-0 on Sunday: Is the title race back on in Spain? Barca did make Carlo Ancelotti’s side sweat a bit, but is the threat that big to the royal club?
Let’s see what it means to the La Liga’s title race
In theory, Barca has put one leg in the race. If the Catalan club win the game they have in hand against Vallecano, the gap will only be 9 points, same with Sevilla but better with goal differences.
Barca’s head coach, Xavi Hernandez made it clear right after the match: “I don’t think we have enough time to win LaLiga,” he warned, but he would not rule it out.
However, the decisive right is not in Blaugrana’s hand. What they can do until the final day of the league, is to win all 10 games, and hope for Real to lose at least 12 points out of 27 points in their 9 games.
But it was amazing to see how Barca went from struggling in top 10, aiming only at top 4, to their status as Europa League’s biggest contender and a possible racer for La Liga’s title.
Same scenario with Sevilla, but the Andalusian club has an unwanted advantage, that is they are totally out of European competition. Lost 0-2 to West Ham at the Europa League’s 2nd leg knock-out round, Sevilla waved goodbye to the stage that they have always been the greatest.
As for Barca and Real, they have a lot to consider and balance. Barca will face Frankfurt next, in the quarter-final of Europa League, while Real re-match with Chelsea in Champions League, who beat them last season in semi-final and went on to win the big-ear trophy.
In April, Sevilla must have Barca beat Camp Nou, before hosting Real Madrid at home. These fixtures of week 30 and 32 will be crucial for all three clubs.
Real may have more difficulty than Sevilla and Barca because they still have Madrid’s derby as one of the final games of La Liga this season.
The injury of Karim Benzema is the first warning sign for Madrid. The French calf injury prevented him from featuring in the Clasico could happen again. And for sure, Ancelotti would not want it to be in any important game of the rest.
