Imperious Barca look to ride on PSG kill
Madrid, March 10: How quickly things can change in Spanish football.
It wasn’t long ago that Barcelona were in crisis, trailing Real Madrid by six points in the Spanish League and facing almost certain elimination from the Champions League. The team were struggling on the field and being jeered by fans. Coach Luis Enrique had just announced his upcoming departure, leaving the club mired in uncertainty.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, were thriving. Under Zinedine Zidane, the team were breaking records and enchanting crowds with top-notch performances. It’s all different now.
Barcelona have retaken the La Liga lead and found a way to overcome the 4-0 first-leg loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. The spectacular 6-1 win at Camp Nou on Wednesday reinvigorated the Catalan club and filled them with confidence. “I can only imagine that the rest of the teams were not happy with what happened,” Enrique said. “We will learn from our mistakes and will continue to be as ambitious as ever.”
Madrid, on the other hand, have lost some of their poise after a dominant first half of the season. “We’re capable of doing better than we did in the first half and we’ll have to do so,” Zidane said.
Madrid are trying to become the first team to win back-to-back Champions League titles since the competition’s new format was introduced in 1992-93. They are trying to win the Spanish League for the first time since 2012.
The team’s next league game is Sunday at home against struggling Real Betis.
The first team to have to face Barcelona after the historic win against PSG are Deportivo La Coruna, who are near the relegation zone and have only one victory in the last 10 league matches. The good thing for Deportivo is that Enrique is expected to rest some regular starters following Wednesday’s grueling match at the Camp Nou. —AP