Sue me, I thought Barcelona would beat Sevilla and win most of their games and maybe draw one and take home the league title, and that would be that. BUT, looks like the other Liga teams are not so useless after all. Seems as if they refused payment to throw their games and are actually willing to challenge the might of Barcelona....on this occasion though.
It's now down to two points, and Barcelona are yet to play Valencia, which means that Madrid are in a very good position right now to get back to the top of the mountain....but that means they have to actually win their own games too as well, which is not always a certainty.
Look, I said Madrid would win it from the start and I stand by that. However, in the recent weeks, and after some losses Madrid have had and with the recent Clasico putdown, it LOOKED like Barcelona just had that edge. It LOOKED like with that front three, based off just pure skill, they would beat any team that would be thrown in their path. But football is football, and the unexpected can happen...such as Barcelona not easily beating every other team in the league apart from Madrid.
Stoke City away.....just saying.....
I don't know what was the thinking behind Neymar being taken off. Did he smack Enrique on the ass in a rude way, or did he eat too much candy at training making him feel queasy. I don't know. But, if Neymar was still on the pitch, with the Cannibal missing some VERY good opportunities, I just know that there would have been a chance that would have fallen to him, or Messi would have given him something to get that third G. It didn't happen, and now Barcelona HAVE to win all their games with Madrid breathing down their neck. So, who actually has the upper-hand?
Madrid had a serious blip after their amazing start, and have recovered. Modric is back in that midfield, and they are clicking again like they used to. There are no big injury worries, and their run-in just has them with that same away travel to Sevilla that banana-skinned Barcelona. Apart from that game, the rest are WINNABLE, but Madrid have been known to somehow self-destruct and lose games they shouldn't, hence how they lost their lead at the top. Despite that, they do have the goal-machine. As long as they have him, and the defence can do their best to just stop leaking in goals, they can do enough to just win. That's all the directive should be right now, to do anything to win every single game so they have done all they can do....and the rest would now be left to the teams Barcelona have to play.
Okay, so they drew with Sevilla. I can't just now say the title race is now in Madrid's hands because....Barcelona are still ahead by two points. Most of their players KNOW how to maintain a lead and get it done. It's the last straight, and with the amazing individual cats that they have on their team, they can beat Valencia and torch the rest of the guys they have to play. Because at the end of the day, I get anything can happen in football, but when you have one of the best players in the world on your team, you CAN win every game. They just need to get their minds focused and realise that a draw or worse...a loss, and they may lose the lead and never be able to get it back again.
And it's all about history. Messi's generation want to win as many titles for Barcelona as possible and shorten that gap of trophies that their rivals have accumulated over the years. So if there is one piece of motivation for Barcelona, then that is it. And any professional who gets tired of winning trophies, does not DESERVE to be labelled as one. This isn't the eating game....this is the WINNING game. HH
