Like Chelsea in England, Real Madrid Are Threatening to Make La Liga a Non-Event
Last Sunday, there was a discernible symmetry that was impossible to ignore between English and Spanish football.
Such an occurrence, given the infinite levels of contrast that separate the Premier League from La Liga, is extremely rare. But that's exactly what Sunday gave us.
The symmetry centred on the dominance of Chelsea and Real Madrid in their respective domestic leagues, but interestingly, the points of reflection weren't stationed at Stamford Bridge or the Bernabeu. Remember, neither the Blues nor Los Blancos were involved in Sunday action.
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Instead, the similarities were independently conveyed by, of all people, a Frenchman in Wales and an Argentine in Basque Country.
"It doesn't look like anybody is capable of challenging them at the moment," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger remarked of table-topping Chelsea, per BBC Sport, after his side had slumped to a 2-1 defeat to Swansea.
Several hundred miles south, past the English channel and across the Bay of Biscay, Diego Simeone was less candid than Wenger, but he surprisingly hinted at a similarly early concession of defeat.
"I leave content because it's a good date. Valencia drew, Sevilla drew, so it wasn't such a bad day for us to lose," the Atletico Madrid manager said, per Inside Spanish Football, after his side had suffered a loss to Real Sociedad by that same scoreline.
Wenger's comments were less startling; his team's title hopes do appear dead and buried, 12 points back from Jose Mourinho's men after just 11 games.
But Simeone's remark was more telling. There, after less than a third of the season, was the manager of the defending Spanish champions openly comparing his side's results with teams sitting third and fifth on the league table. Teams without title aspirations who are instead eyeing Champions League qualification places rather than silverware.
Are league-leaders Real Madrid no longer in his sights?
Coming from the combative Simeone, the most pugnacious of characters, it was like watching Mike Tyson surrender a fight in the third round.
Such a pair of statements were extremely notable. The delivery of each may have been different, but the message was very much the same: Those guys out in front look too fast to catch.
If ever there could be brutally clear verbal evidence of the effect one's dominance can have upon others, Sunday provided it.
Of course, all of this may seem inconsequential. For many, the focus on such fleeting words may feel like an unnecessary deviation from the inner workings of the commanding success being enjoyed by Chelsea and Real Madrid at present.
Yet, it's often through the reactions of supposed challengers that we garner the most accurate indication into the true extent of dominance. After all, men who believe supremacy can be toppled tend to embody a certain defiance.
But Wenger and Simeone? Their will seemed broken; their appetite for the challenge appeared to desert them as the sobering realisation set in that they are, at best, most likely playing for second.
Both typically stubborn leaders, the apparent resignation that had been forced upon the esteemed managers was the best insight yet into just how formidable the dominant outfits in England and Spain actually are.
For Real Madrid, the rise to their current position in La Liga has been more of a gradual process than Chelsea's in the Premier League. Early slip-ups against Atletico and Real Sociedad in the season's early weeks—losses that plunged Los Blancos toward the depths of a small crisis—placed a minor handicap on the European champions that needed to be overcome.
But Ancelotti insisted his team would accelerate from their slow beginning, describing his side as a "diesel."
The unflappable Italian, whose stock continues to rise, couldn't have been more correct.
Now, as an international break gives respite to their tormented opponents, only Real Madrid can stop Real Madrid.
Such a proclamation, of course, may seem premature, but unless Ancelotti's staggeringly talented squad suffers an identity crisis between now and May, La Liga's title race is a foregone conclusion.
Having strung together 13 straight victories—eight of them in the league—that have yielded an astonishing 52 goals, Real Madrid have shown the magnitude of their firepower simply outweighs any opposing qualities. When you're smashing in five each week, it's mighty hard to lose.
Indeed, labelling it video-game stuff almost sells it short; football just shouldn't be this easy, this breathtaking, this destructive.
You could ask your subscription TV provider for the replay of Real's latest game and what the company might give you wouldn't matter: Whether it's Deportivo La Coruna, Elche, Athletic Bilbao, Levante, Granada, Rayo Vallecano or even Barcelona, the script is exactly the same.
Like Chelsea in England, Real Madrid's imperious grip on their domestic league looks unbreakable. Like Mourinho, Ancelotti appears a step ahead of his fellow managers. Like Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal, the likes of Barcelona and Atletico Madrid look too flawed in their current incarnations to compete (El Clasico, remember, could have been a massacre).
Suddenly, the themes surrounding both teams are identical. The mirrors may have needed time to align, but the similarities are irrefutable: The capital clubs are storming toward their respective titles.
And as they do so, the best indications of just how dominant they are have come from the deflated responses of the typically bullish figures who are charged with the responsibility of trying to stop them.
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