Round 17 La Liga: Real, Barca - "stumbles" at the beginning of the year

(Baonghean) - After the Christmas and New Year holidays, La Liga has returned with the "opening" matches in round 17. Surprisingly, of the 3 teams ranked 1st, 2nd, 3rd on the rankings, only Atletico Madrid was able to smile with victory, while both Real Madrid and Barca were defeated by their opponents.

Real Madrid suffered a bitter defeat at the beginning of the year. Photo: Internet

However, before they could "learn from their experience" at the Dubai Football Challenge Cup, coach Carlo Ancelotti's "invincible" team continued to disappoint in La Liga. The 17th round ended Los Blancos' 22-match winning streak and also "robbed" them of the upper hand in their long-distance race. Of course, no matter the time, facing Valencia is not easy for the Spanish royal team. However, with a nearly "perfect" machine, not many people will believe that Real can "fall" in the "bat cave". But that's football, strength and weakness sometimes cannot overcome "dirtiness" and Real are the ones who understand this better than anyone when the final whistle sounds.

Although the defeat has not affected the standings much, we can see the inherent problems that big teams often encounter when entering an important stage. It is a physical problem, it seems that when participating in many arenas in a short period of time, the physical strength of the "White Vultures" is greatly eroded, the teams legs are no longer flexible to show off their inherent superior technical qualities. That is why Toni Kroos once spoke out that he felt tired because of the match schedule, but as a central midfielder, he did not have the right to rest. And as a result, in the last match, he played very poorly. But not only Kroos, but the entire Real Madrid squad played as if they were "wearing lead" on their feet, Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema, even the defense with Ramos, Pepe all played below their ability. If they cannot improve the problems that existed at the Mestalla stadium in the last match, while the journey is still very long and they have to distribute their strength in many other arenas, Real will find it very difficult to achieve the goals they are aiming for at the end of the season.

Fortunately for coach Carlo Ancelotti and his team, their arch-rivals Barca could not win against a team that was considered much weaker, so "weak" that coach Enrique "kept" both Messi and Neymar on the bench. However, when the audience had not yet warmed up their seats, Barca's central defender Jordi Alba "scored" to help the home team. With a lucky goal, the team currently in the bottom half of the rankings, Real Sociedad, deployed a style of play in the style of coach David Moyes, which is to proactively defend tightly and counterattack quickly. With such an approach to the match, even when Messi and Neymar entered the field in the second half, Barca was still extremely deadlocked. This defeat of Barca not only lost the opportunity to surpass Real on the rankings, but was also leveled by Atletico in terms of points (both with 38 points).

Thus, the opening round of the new year 2015 ended very disappointingly for both Real and Barca. Although it did not temporarily upset the rankings, it was a wake-up call and a "silence" for these two traditional teams to review what they lacked on their way to the championship. With their inherent strength and professionalism, they will certainly quickly realize the problem to become stronger in the next rounds. But for neutral fans, these two defeats will certainly make La Liga more attractive, because just one "misstep" can completely change the position of the teams.

South Scene