Real Madrid Drawing Roma in Champions League Softens Villarreal Blow

Real Madrid director Emilio Butragueno's facial expression didn't waver, but you could have excused him if it did. Inside, he would have almost undoubtedly been smiling, and probably rather thankful too. 

Sat at the round-of-16 draw for the Champions League on Monday, Butragueno watched as the balls came out, knowing there were teams to crave and teams to avoid. Unlike the rest of the group winners, his Madrid couldn't draw heavyweights Paris Saint-Germain, but they could draw Juventus, inflictors of pain last season. Or Arsenal, a side capable of anything in a peculiar kind of way. 

Avoiding such a tie at this stage was preferable. And avoid it Real Madrid did, as Butragueno watched his club draw Roma.

Cue the internal smile. 

Soon afterward, Butragueno gave the sort of line he's obliged to give: "Roma are a tough side, they'll be really up for it and they compete well," he said. "If we see ourselves as favourites things won't go well for us." But he will have known that, as draws go, this was a friendly one. Against Roma, Real are favourites, and the tie is a rather lopsided one.  

And right now, that's exactly what Real Madrid might need.

On Sunday, Rafa Benitez's side slumped to their third loss in five league games as Villarreal put an abrupt stop to Madrid's post-Clasico recovery by edging their guests 1-0 at El Madrigal. For Los Blancos, it wasn't merely the dropped points that were most damaging; it was what the defeat said about them and who it suggested they were. 

Alberto Saiz/Associated Press

For 18 months now, Madrid's record against the league's upper echelon has been poor, and Sunday continued the trend. Indeed, the defeat to Villarreal follows those against Barcelona and Sevilla, leaving the point against Atletico Madrid as the only point Real have taken against sides from last season's top six thus far.

Last season, it was similar: four points from a possible 18 against top-four rivals.  

Consequently, this is an outfit that's increasingly taking on the flat-track-bully tag in a manner that's troubling, given the talent on hand.

So far this season, 14 of Madrid's 15 wins in all competitions have come against Real Betis, Espanyol, Shakhtar Donetsk (twice), Granada, Athletic Bilbao, Malmo (twice), Levante, Celta Vigo, Las Palmas, Eibar, Cadiz and Getafe. Only their victory over PSG counts as a success against a relative equal, and that victory was as fortunate as they come. 

Thus, Real Madrid have steadily taken on an existence in which the sum of their parts isn't anywhere near what it should be. Out of rhythm, unbalanced, systematically flawed and gripped by a feeling of institutional tension, this remarkable team on paper has grown decidedly unremarkable in practice.

Consistently, their deficiencies are exposed by opponents who possess either the weapons or nous to challenge them. 

But are Roma such an opponent? Recent evidence suggests not. 

On Sunday, Rudi Garcia's side saw their winless run stretch to six games with a draw against Napoli, taking their record to two wins from nine since a strong run in October. But perhaps more relevant is their Champions League record this season: one win in six. 

Indeed, Roma somehow escaped Group E with six points, conceding 16 goals in a group campaign that was vastly underwhelming and that indicates Garcia's men possess a certain brittleness. For comparison, Maccabi Tel Aviv conceded the same number, and only Malmo conceded more. 

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As such, Roma are anything but a heavyweight in the continental competition, and Madrid will like their chances of progressing in an apparently lopsided tie. And in all of this, there's an important point for Benitez's side. 

Provided they're able to get past the Italians, Real Madrid won't face a true equal in Europe until at least the quarter-finals in early April. Consequently, whereas maintenance time is in short supply in the league, Madrid potentially have the better part of four months to address their flaws for a Champions League tilt. 

In that time, Madrid's task list will be rather extensive. From the disjointed nature of the system to the composition of the attack, from the inability to sustain intensity to the regularity of defensive errors, there is much to address for Benitez and Co. But time is potentially on their side, and drawing an unsettled Roma helps. 

In a small way, that might soften the blow dealt to them by Villarreal.