Barcelona having surprisingly nice season, but not so for Real Madrid
MADRID — Few saw this coming after a turbulent start to the season for Barcelona.
The Catalan club is the one thriving at the halfway point of the Spanish league, while defending champion Real Madrid is in crisis.
Just five months ago, Barcelona was in turmoil after letting Neymar go to Paris Saint-Germain and losing twice to Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup.
Madrid was coming off its second straight Champions League title and appeared in good position to defend its Spanish league trophy.
But it already trails Barcelona by 19 points and is fighting just to remain in the qualification zone for the Champions League. Zinedine Zidane’s team has lost more points (22) than in its entire title-winning campaign last season (21), although it has a game in hand.
Barcelona is cruising with a ninepoint lead over second-place Atletico Madrid and an 11-point advantage over third-place Valencia. It is the only unbeaten team left in the top European leagues, having not lost in 29 matches since the two consecutive defeats to Madrid to start the season.
“I have the feeling that we are a very difficult team to beat,” Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde said after Sunday’s 4-2 come-from-behind win at Real Sociedad’s Anoeta Stadium, where Barcelona hadn’t won since 2007. “The key was not to set lofty goals, go step by step and avoid getting too paranoid in the difficult moments.”
In his first season at the helm, Valverde did a great job putting Barcelona back on track despite the early doubts. A key move by the club was to bring Brazil midfielder Paulinho, who added balance to the team and ended being a perfect replacement for Neymar.
Zidane, meanwhile, was not able to get Madrid to play up to its potential in the league. It struggled a lot early in the season, including at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, where it usually thrives. The team has won only once in its last five matches in all competitions.
Barcelona ended the first half of the league with 51 points, on pace to become the first team to break the 100-point mark since Madrid in 201112. It has the best attack with 52 goals and the second-best defense with nine goals, one more than Atletico Madrid.
Lionel Messi, who scored once against Real Sociedad, is the league’s scoring leader with 17 goals, four more than Luis Suarez, who found the net twice in Anoeta. Messi reached his 366th league goal all-time, surpassing Gerd Mueller’s Bundesliga mark of 365 and becoming the most prolific scorer among Europe’s top leagues.
Barcelona’s three draws came at Atletico, at Valencia and against Celta Vigo, which was the team’s only setback at home. It already played away games against the top five teams in the league standings, including Madrid, winning 3-0 at the Bernabeu.
“We are happy with the season we are having, after the difficult start we
had,” Valverde said.
SANCHEZ: Manchester United’s chances of signing Alexis Sanchez were boosted on Monday when fierce rival Manchester City ended its interest in signing the Arsenal forward.
City is unwilling to match the transfer fee and related costs to sign Sanchez that are being offered by United or Chelsea, which is the latest contender for his signature, a person familiar with negotiations told The Associated Press. City also didn’t want to make Sanchez the highest-earning player at the club.
REGIS DIES: Cyrille Regis, a pioneer for black soccer players in England who endured racist abuse while forging a career with West Bromwich Albion and defied threats of violence to represent England’s national team, has died. He was 59.
Regis died on Sunday after a heart attack, the West Brom Former Players’ Association wrote on Twitter. The Professional Footballers’ Association, which honored the forward with its young player of the year award in 1978, said Regis was a “great pioneer for equality.”
English Football Association chairman Greg Clarke said Regis “broke new ground and paved the way for a generation of young black players in this country during the ’70s and ’80s.”
REF SUSPENDED: The French soccer federation suspended referee Tony Chapron until further notice on Monday after the official kicked a player during a league match.