It was a weekend that started with Granada winning on Friday evening to move away from the drop zone and ended on Monday evening in a tame goalless affair.
Above all though, it was a dream weekend for Real Madrid.
It’s one which confirmed why they are my tip for the La Liga title – a viewpoint matched by the SBOTOP La Liga 2021 betting odds – and why their city rivals Atletico Madrid have it all to do if they are to retain the crown they won in May and why Barcelona are well-adrift of mounting a title charge.
In fact, the club from Catalonia may be struggling to even finish in the top four and a Champions League return.
Xavi made aware of Barca task
New Barcelona manager Xavi was well-aware of the task he faced before he agreed to replace Ronald Koeman in the Nou Camp hot seat last month.
That was starkly clear over the weekend as he watched his side slip to a home defeat to Real Betis – an end to his unbeaten start as Barcelona boss as the Catalan giants were beaten by a Juanmi strike 11 minutes from time.
Xavi had won his opening two league games in charge as well as drawing with Benfica in the Champions League.
Yet the reality is they are 16 points off the summit in early December and likely to need a result at Bayern Munich in midweek to guarantee they reach the Champions League knockout stage.
Failure to do so, as appears likely, would be a blow.
In its pre-season budget, the club had budgeted to reach at least the quarter-final stage of the tournament, and failing to even progress beyond the group phase would mean losing €20.2-M.
This would be a severe economic blow for Joan Laporta’s presidency and not securing the money earned by a last 16 and quarter-final appearance would also harm the club’s chances of moving for players in the transfer market in January.
Real have daylight
Barca’s misery is compounded by the fact their arch-rivals are threatening to run away with it.
In August, I predicted Real would reclaim the title with manager Carlo Ancelotti’s guile proving a difference, yet little did I think they would hold an eight-point advantage, albeit Sevilla have a match in hand, at this stage.
They created more La Liga 2021 highlights over the weekend, helped by a Serbian outcast who had only played 81 minutes all season until the weekend yet was brilliant after leaping off the bench to replace the club’s injured talisman Karim Benzema in a 2-0 success at Real Sociedad by setting up one goal and scoring the other.
Luka Jovic hadn’t played a game’s worth of football in 2021/22, let alone produced a goal or an assist. In fact, he had not scored for Madrid in 664 days until their visit to the Basque.
Only six players have ever cost Madrid more than Jovic – Zinedine Zidane, Kaká, Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, James Rodríguez, and Eden Hazard. A little out of place, still young, and undemonstrative, he had not really settled or integrated since joining the club for €60-M.
Now with Benzema expected to be out for a few weeks, this could be his time to shine especially with Atletico Madrid up this weekend.
Champions last-gasp loss is major blow
Talking of Atletico, despite Matheus Cunha opening the scoring at home to Real Mallorca, the visitors came back and registered their first victory in eight games thanks to goals from Franco Russo and Takefusa Kubo.
Mallorca refused to give in after falling behind and equalised through Russo, who headed home in the 80th minute to send shockwaves through the Wanda Metropolitano.
Atletico piled the pressure and pinned Mallorca back towards their own box, but Kubo hit on the counter in second-half stoppage time to complete an epic comeback.
A defeat such as this will likely be a blow which proves crucial come May when it comes to Los Rojiblancos their crown.
Getafe vs. Athletic Bilbao on a Monday night may not have seemed a standout game but it was more important than many realised.
The hosts knew victory would see them move to within a point of safety. Bilbao were aware three points would move them level on points with seventh-placed Barcelona.
There was a certain predictability then that this would end up goalless. The point apiece does little to help either side, and with 10 and 13 goals respectively in 16 games it is clear where their main problems lie.
Bilbao rose to ninth spot while Getafe stayed at 19th.
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