My focus this week is in Spain with what seems to be an apparent title race back on again. This weekend Madrid drew 1-1 with Villarreal at El Madrigal in similar circumstances to the Malaga match last weekend. I always had the belief even with 10 points that Madrid would drop points, but not at home against Malaga, because of their home record and somewhat surprising against a poor Villarreal. However, with Barcelona seemingly peeking at the overused "business end" of the season(as if the rest of the season is just the recreational end) and the insatiable form of Messi at the moment, you can help but think that some Barca fans may feel a sense of destiny.
The situation that Madrid finds themselves in reminds me of what happened to Barca in the 06/07 season. Madrid's "never say die" attitude created so much pressure on Barcelona to eventually capitulate in the penultimate game versus Espanyol, as Tamudo hit a stoppage time equaliser at the Nou Camp, Van Nistelrooy hit a winner at Zaragoza. If you look at the games still to play this season Madrid on paper have the harder fixtures such as Osasuna (away), Athletic Club (away), Valencia (home), Sevilla (home), Barcelona (away) and for sake of paper Atletico Madrid (away) even though Atletico have been nothing but Madrid's prison yard concubines since 99. Now i still believe with the immense talent and insane firepower Madrid have up front, the title should be in the Bernabeu in May, however, the relentless intensity that they had for the most of the season and right after the liga clasico defeat in December is missing at a crucial time.
Winning titles is about peaking at the right time, if i was a betting man Barcelona could very well win the title from the backdoor this year. While i don't believe in "mind games" as the media puts it, there is a reason why Guardiola has said winning this league is" impossible" and that has coincided with six straight wins on the bounce, Barcelona are playing without pressure at the moment and Madrid, having been chasing Barcelona for the past three years, are feeling the heat of being favorites during the title run in.
Notes:
Neymar is apparently set to join Barcelona in 2013, while he is ridiculously talented i cant help feel that this is a vanity signing by Sandro Rosell, considering you already have Sanchez, Tello, Cuenca, Pedro and whoever might come of age next season, it strikes me as purely a galatico signing and not a footballing one. Maybe i just showed how naive i am.
Goal of the week
Coates vs QPR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj9umu0H5hI
Bossman.
Not wrong about the Neymar signing but I think that in a purely commercial way it might just be worth it.
ReplyDeleteAs for the rest of you analysis about the league....I think it is quite spot on. One thing I wil add is the lack of rotation of the squad by Mourinho. This is a factor that adds to the dip in form that Madrid is having now. The main players are tired...as they always are at this period of time. On the other hand Pep has rotated his players a lot more, making it quite possible for the barca squad to sustain a better level of quality.
You're right about lack of rotation on Mourinho's part, which is surprising to me because i think he has the deeper squad. The high level intensity cannot be sustained without rotating players, may prove crucial if not in the league, maybe champions league.
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