Advantage Atléti as the Madrid ‘Derby’ looms
AFTER only garnering a single point from their rapidfire double-header against Levante and suffering a defeat to Chelsea in their nominal ‘home’ game of the Champions League Round of Sixteen first leg encounter, Atléti looked to have hit the slump that many pundits suggested would be inevitable, and fans of Real Madrid were praying for. Events over the weekend of Matchday 25 however, suggested that such talk may be a little precipitous.
Ahead of the
Chelsea game, Simeone’s team had dropped more points in the previous dozen days than they had in the rest of the season, winning once in their previous four games. Having acquired the aura of a machinelike efficiency up to that point, any drop in intensity was bound to provoke concerns about their ability to maintain such high standards, and a visit to Villareal hardly looked the ideal option to get things back on track. The Valencia-based club had suffered a dip in form of late, after going so many games unbeaten, but still retained their obdurate resistance to defeat and a draw would hardly have been a surprise result.
In the opening 20 minutes, it seemed very much like things were heading in that direction, but an own goal by the unfortunate Pedroza on 25 minutes and then a clinical finish by João Félix in the second half delivered both the points, and a boost in confidence to Atléti. The way the clinching goal was celebrated both on the pitch, and by El Cholo on the sidelines, underlined the significance of the performance. It stretched Atléti’s lead at the top to five points from Barcelona with a game in hand. With Los Blancos still to play though and having the opportunity to potentially to cut that lead to three, the advantage was still to be confirmed.
If Simeone was juggling his squad with a few injury and suspension concerns, across the city Zidane’s problems were mountainous by comparison. Decimated by injuries and suspensions, the available Los Blancos looked to be on the brink of threadbare. Sending his team out on Monday to face the inconsistent Real Sociedad, the coach selected a front three of Marco Asensio, Mariano Díaz and Isco. Between them, the trio had contributed a total of three goals all season, and the player with the most strikes to his name in the starting eleven was Casemiro, who had scored five times from his nominal defensive midfield role.
Understandably, the game was difficult for the champions and, for periods, La Real looked the more likely to score, and early on, a clumsy challenge by Casemiro on Monreal may well have brought a penalty for the visitors but, for whatever reasons – insert your own conspiracy theories here – apparently the VAR officials deemed the incident unworthy of review. Ten minutes after the break however, a looping header from Portu left Courtois stranded and the Basque club had the lead.
The goal brought a triple substitution from Zidane as he realised that defeat may well have seen his club forced to confront the dawning realisation of relinquishing their title. One of the changes brought Vini Junior into the action and the youngster injected the sort of attacking threat that had largely been missing from Real Madrid’s play up to that point. If they were going to get back into the game, it seemed likely that he would be involved. The equaliser came in the 89th minute. Too late to salvage anything other than a point, but it wouldn’t have been the biggest surprise in the world if the champions had gone on to notch a winner. The result left Los Blancos on 53 points, alongside Barcelona, five points adrift and with Atléti still having hand.
The Catalans have troubles of their own of course. Despite an impressive 0-2 win at Sevilla keeping them in touch with the battle for the title following a comfortable midweek 3-0 victory at home to Elche, the news of police entering the Camp Nou offices and arrests following just add another layer of woes and worries for the Cules who must be hoping this season ends soon – although the summer may of course see the departure of Messi so, perhaps not so much!
It all means of course that Sunday’s ‘Derby’ game at the Wanda Metropolitano now assumes massive significance. If the home team win, that lead becomes eight over the reigning champions, with the prospect of that rising to 11 should Atléti cash in on that game in hand when they meet Athletic Club at home on the following Wednesday. If they lose however, it’s definitely ‘game on’ again and that game against the Basques becomes vital for all concerned. There is of course, the possibility of a draw and, with Barcelona having an entirely winnable visit to Osasuna on the day before, despite all the kerfuffle behind the scenes, it could be Koeman’s team emerging as the main danger to Atléti. Watch this space!
A quick couple of other things worthy of mention. On Saturday, Eibar drew 1-1 at home to Huesca; a fairly unremarkable affair you may think. The nature of both that game in clubs however make the encounter remarkable as a top tier game in the Spanish league pyramid. The clubs are two of the smallest across Europe’s top leagues and, by any logical measure shouldn’t be playing at this level. If you seated the entire populations of both towns combined into the Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabéu stadium, its 100,000 capacity would still have around 20,000 seats left unoccupied. Their ascent to the Primera División is both remarkable and hugely laudable.
Finally, tip of the hat this week is heading to Manuel Pellegrini. The veteran Chilean coach has revitalised Real Betis, and their 0-1 victory over fellow Andalusians Cádiz was their twelfth victory of the season. Still having 13 games to play. That total is two more than the entire haul from last season. With no money spent on transfers in the summer, the club that finished fifteenth last term after a worrying flirtation with relegation is now up sixth and well into a battle for European football. We shouldn’t really be surprised about how big a difference experience and the art of good coaching can make, but if we were, Pellegrini is illustrating that fact down in Seville.
Perhaps, by next week, the muddied waters of the title destination may be a little clearer, although I wouldn’t bet on it. One thing is for sure though, the last dozen games or so of the season are unlikely to be boring.
Hasta luego mis amigos!