The 2: 2 home draw with Liverpool ended Real Madrid's strong momentum since the New Year.
It was not just a draw that ended Real Madrid's winning streak, but also the clash of skills and tactics in the game.
If the only thing that was criticized about Real Madrid last season was that the rear defensive line occasionally went crazy, then the current White Army was a house that was full of leaks. The team's strength had declined due to the imbalance of the lineup structure, coupled with the wave of injuries that broke out at the beginning of the season, which made the stability of the team unable to continue for a long time.
After the game, Bosque praised Liverpool's performance and frankly said that Real Madrid's draw was the best result.
Benítez also praised Real Madrid, as if to show his magnanimity in complimenting the opponent, but he also cautiously said that it was not certain who would win in the second round back at Anfield.
The game attracted widespread attention in the European football world, especially in the local Spanish media.
The football pundits gave a professional and pungent review of the game.
A comprehensive analysis of the root cause of Liverpool's ability to restrain Real Madrid.
Real Madrid's weakness in the midfield was further magnified, giving all the La Liga teams a good idea. In the study of how to restrain Real Madrid, Liverpool became the pioneer and the winner!
Just after the Champions League game, Real Madrid immediately rushed to the weekend league game.
On March 1, the 25th round of La Liga, Real Madrid's game against RCD Espanyol started first.
RCD Espanyol, who had defeated Barcelona in the last round, had a great momentum at home. They combined the experience of defeating Barcelona and adopted the same tactical strategy as Liverpool to restrain Real Madrid.
After 90 minutes of play, the score was 1: 1.
Real Madrid lost two points to RCD Espanyol, and RCD Espanyol used one game to tell all the La Liga teams how to play Real Madrid.
The midfield was frantically scrambling and counterattacking. Real Madrid's midfield must not be allowed to operate smoothly.
Real Madrid's thin lineup was extremely difficult to fight on two fronts.
Moreover, the two consecutive draws in the Champions League and Premier League put them under a lot of pressure.
Real Madrid, who started the game first, shortened the gap between them and Barcelona from three points to two points. However, Barcelona's game was late, so they had a chance to expand their lead again.
The Catalan media happily reported Real Madrid's draw, hoping to stimulate Barcelona's fighting spirit!
But when Barcelona's visit to the Calderón Stadium came to an end, the entire La Liga stadium went crazy!
4:3
Atletico Madrid gave the La Liga leader two consecutive defeats at home!
In the same round, Barcelona's arch-rival, RCD Espanyol, made Real Madrid lose two points.
On the other hand, Real Madrid's arch-rival, Atlético Madrid, did not allow Barcelona to score a single point!
Real Madrid was only two points away from Barcelona!
It seemed that Barcelona had also fallen into a slump, and it was a shocking two consecutive defeats.
This was a huge contrast to the Catalan army that had been advancing triumphantly.
But in terms of the overall situation, Barcelona was still more competitive than Real Madrid.
When the team was in a slump, Barcelona's godfather, Cruyff, could stand up for the team, cheer the players, appease the fans, and guide public opinion. However, the Real Madrid Club did not have such a role. All the pressure was on the shoulders of the players!
Cruyff wrote in his column, "The game between Barcelona and Atlético Madrid proved once again that football is a game full of mistakes.
In this game, everyone has the right to make mistakes. The difference is that some mistakes are bigger, and some mistakes are harmless.
Obviously, the mistakes made by the striker and the goalkeeper are more well-known because the former will miss the chance to score, and the latter will concede the ball.
However, if you look at the scapegoats for the team's failure from this perspective, such as the goalkeeper, Valdés, it seems ridiculous.
When you look at one player as the culprit, you have ignored the other ten players and the mistakes made by these ten players.
As the saying goes, it is easy to win a country, but hard to defend it. Barcelona has been advancing triumphantly since the beginning of the season. Now is the time to test them.
At such a moment, every detail can determine the outcome of a game.
The game against Atlético Madrid fully demonstrated this point.
In this game, Barcelona's players made many individual mistakes, and these mistakes ultimately cost them their defeat.
Originally, this was a game that should have been easy to win, but because the players did not handle many details well, the game ended in failure.
The 'details' I am talking about here refer to the players' positions on the field, the position they received the ball from, the speed of the pass, and the options their teammates provided for the players in possession of the ball.
Now I want to see how Barcelona's players will respond in these aspects after this defeat.
On the other hand, I want to emphasize that although Barcelona's performance in recent games has not been good, they have not fallen into a slump. At least, I personally think so.
In my opinion, the team's problem is that they can't rely on the team to play at a high level like before. Instead, they rely on the players' individual abilities to play the game.
In this case, individual mistakes often have a great impact on the team.
If it had been in the past, Barcelona would never have lost a game after scoring three goals. Now that this situation has happened, it shows that the previous successful link has now gone wrong.
Real Madrid's performance in the same period was really good. They even had a 10-game winning streak in the league before this round.
At first, the goal of the White Army was to secure a place in the Champions League, preferably second place. But now, they have narrowed the point gap from 11 points to 2 points. In December last year, they would not have thought that they would gradually approach Barcelona after the start of the New Year.
In terms of numbers, this is an almost perfect upward trend. But from a football perspective, it is not like this.
Real Madrid has a strong offense and has gained a lot of points. But other than that, I don't think they have brought much joy to the fans.
So, will they be satisfied with the status quo?
I don't know.
But for Real Madrid, I always expect them to do more and better, and not just wait for others to make mistakes and take advantage of the opportunity to profit.
If Real Madrid can't beat Liverpool in the Champions League, they will unfortunately be eliminated.
However, being eliminated from the Champions League also means that Real Madrid will gain a certain advantage in the league because their game tasks will be reduced a lot.
And if Barcelona succeeds in advancing, they will consume more energy while pursuing the Champions League trophy, which will have an impact on the league.
So, which situation do I personally like? Of course, it's the second one. I always want to win all the titles, even if it means the team has to play more games.
Obviously, for a long time, Barcelona will play more games than Real Madrid.
However, the important thing is that Barcelona, not Real Madrid, will be competing for the Copa del Rey final this Wednesday. Ten days later, it will be Barcelona, not Real Madrid, who will be likely to eliminate their opponents and advance to the Champions League quarterfinals.
If Barcelona advances smoothly and Real Madrid is eliminated, I don't want to hear any more excuses like the schedule is in Barcelona's favor, because Real Madrid should admit that Barcelona's players are young, the team is stronger, and the manager, Guardiola, pays more attention to the reasonable distribution of fitness when using the players.
Barcelona lost a nine-point lead, but no Barcelona player would be willing to exchange positions with Real Madrid, even though the latter had won ten games in a row.
In my opinion, Barcelona is still the strongest team. They just need to improve a few details to get on track. They have to remember that the season is long and the best team almost always has the last laugh. "
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