Barcelona's Grip on La Liga Tightens in Their Absence
Even when Rafa Benitez wins at the moment, he doesn’t win. Sunday’s 10-2 thumping of neighbours Rayo Vallecano should have been the statement that kick-started Real Madrid’s—and the coach’s—faltering season, but it was relegated to a footnote of a weekend dominated by Barcelona’s latest triumph.
Take the cover of Monday’s AS, for example (from the newspaper’s website, here). The headline—squeezed in at the top, in a subordinate position to the celebrating Club World Cup champions of Barcelona—points out that El Real were losing against 11 men before going to town against a Rayo side reduced to nine inside the first half-hour.
Visiting coach Paco Jemez’s post-match comments that “we all lost” (as per Sport’s English version) captured the mood, even if it was hard to argue against the first red card, for Tito’s X-rated challenge on Toni Kroos, in particular. As Rayo fell to bits in the second half like an oven-fresh turkey under a carving knife, it was not an edifying spectacle.
Gareth Bale, who struck four times before taking his leave 15 minutes from the end, seemed to enjoy himself. The expression on Cristiano Ronaldo’s face suggested he was less enthused. It was a win, but it proved little and solved little, even if Los Merengues go into Christmas just two points behind Barca, albeit having played a game more.
The last couple of weeks has drained much of the optimism from around the Bernabeu. El Real’s shortcomings were avoidable while Keylor Navas was saving the day (as he did so spectacularly in the October win at Celta Vigo, for example) but as Barca themselves proved last autumn, it takes time to recover from a loss in El Clasico.
Last week’s loss at Villarreal, following expulsion from the Copa del Rey for fielding the suspended Denis Cheryshev (as reported by the Guardian), saw us arrive at the point where even Jose Mourinho's improbable return—suggested by former club president Ramon Calderon, as per the Mirror—seemed like light relief to some.
The whole Copa del Rey farrago (which El Real are still officially appealing) has nothing to do with Benitez, of course; it’s an administrative matter that should have been flagged up by club management above the coach. It’s the climate of growing frustration, arguably started when Benitez's predecessor Carlo Ancelotti was fired in the first place, which threatens Benitez the most.
Sergio Ramos’ comments on Sunday that “if the president says Benitez is the solution, then he is” (as reported here by Football Espana) was hardly a ringing endorsement of the coach or an expression of dressing-room support. Perhaps the most difficult aspect for Cristiano, James Rodriguez and Co. is that they are in the same boat as the rest, chasing Barca’s coattails.
City rivals Atletico fall into that category, too. They endured an even more frustrating Sunday, knowing that even a draw at lowly Malaga would seat them atop La Liga for Christmas. Instead, Diego Simeone’s side allowed the lowest-scoring side in the division to reach double figures for the season, with Diego Godin’s late own goal handing the Andalucians the points.
It shouldn’t have happened to Atleti of all teams, the owners of (by some distance) the league’s best defence with just eight goals conceded and past masters at grinding out results. Yet, while Los Colchoneros may be Barca’s most viable competition—especially when one considers the unrest at the Bernabeu—they have many issues of their own.
Fernando Torres, who came closest to breaking Malaga after coming on at half-time, is worth more to Atleti than just goals—and it's a good job, too, some might say, given his decline from his prolific former self. Nevertheless, the interminable wait for a century of goals for the club (he has been stuck on 99 since mid-September, when he scored in the win at Eibar) has become a millstone.
Simeone’s acknowledgement of this in an interview with El Pais published on Monday (as per Marca’s English version), saying he “just needs to get that 100th goal to ease the pressure on him,” is significant. With Jackson Martinez struggling with a hamstring injury and Luciano Vietto still settling, Atleti are dangerously reliant on Antoine Griezmann for now. They looked powder puff at La Rosaleda.
In recent years, there had been the sense that more clubs were building to, at the very least, put themselves in a position to inconvenience the big boys, but that hope has taken a hit this season. Valencia’s faltering start forced Nuno out of a job, and it has quickly become clear to Gary Neville what a huge task he faces to make his inherited team a force again, if indeed he didn’t know before.
Saturday’s underwhelming draw with a fairly average Getafe side, in Neville’s La Liga home debut, was a case in point. Valencia looked like a team going backwards in the opening half; even when the swagger dried up under Nuno, the defence looked assured. It is still La Liga’s joint second-best, besides Malaga’s, with 14 conceded.
The two goals shipped to Pablo Sarabia and Angel Lafita at the Mestalla on Saturday suggest it might not stay that way for long. Los Che looked disorganized, even ramshackle on occasions, and Aymen Abdennour—recruited at great expense to replace Nicolas Otamendi—endured a particularly tough afternoon. With problems at both ends of the pitch, they break nine points behind the Champions League spots.
Sevilla, the other team most likely to qualify for the Champions League, are only one point better off. The Europa League holders have an enviable squad at their disposal, but this has sometimes seemed to be more of a hindrance than a help to the admired Unai Emery, who doesn’t seem to have settled on a best XI yet.
They are capable of the awesome, having beaten Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus at the intimidating Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan this season, and the abject, after losing at Las Palmas and Real Sociedad in recent months.
Saturday’s derby stalemate at Real Betis encapsulated many of their problems; when Kevin Gamiero doesn’t score (he was foiled by Antonio Adan early on), nobody else looks likely to score. The upcoming two-legged Copa del Rey tie against Betis means there is little room for respite.
That is the case for all the chasing pack. There is not much of a winter break—the calendar rejig (as reported by ESPN FC) has created an extra matchday, with a return to business on December 30. It leaves very little time to reassess or to change tack.
As Barca return from Yokohama with another trophy in tow, that will be music to manager Luis Enrique’s ears. They have leadership of La Liga and are days away from being able to include Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal, who are already acclimatised to their new surroundings, as their rivals struggle with their own issues. It’s a pretty picture for the Blaugrana.
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