Is the La Liga title race already over?
BESOCCER
After La Liga’s match day 21, Barcelona stands alone at the top of the table with an 11-point lead over second-place Real Madrid. This is after Barcelona earned their 11th win in all competitions, as they defeated Villarreal 1-0 this past Sunday.
The contest was the second time these teams played each other in the league, the first ending in a 3-0 win for Barcelona at the Spotify Camp Nou. Now playing in Villarreal, it was Pedri who made the difference in the 18th minute when he combined brilliantly with Robert Lewandowski to give Barcelona the early lead.
Villarreal had some great chances throughout the game as well. Just before halftime, Jose Luis Morales had a 1v1 opportunity with Marc-Andre ter Stegen after a poor pass backward from Pedri. Unfortunately for Villarreal, Morales couldn’t put it on target and sent his attempt wide left of the goal.
The second half was more static and more of an end-to-end game, with both teams having a chance to score. In the end, it was a great defensive performance from Barcelona to earn all three points and grow their advantage at the top of the league.
SPORT
Barcelona’s large lead raises a legitimate question: is the race for La Liga already decided? Mathematically, absolutely not.
There are still 17 match days left in the season, and there have been instances where big leads like this have dissolved in no time. Just this season in England, Arsenal had an eight-point advantage over second place at one point. Now, they’re one loss away from being tied for first with Manchester City.
However, some factors make it seem like Barcelona may be closer to becoming champions than people may realize. The first reason is that Barcelona is healthier at this point than Real Madrid. Madrid has only recently gotten David Alaba back from a lengthy absence but are still without some of their most influential players.
Thibaut Courtois has been sidelined since Madrid’s latest league loss against Mallorca when he picked up an injury during their warmups. There’s also Karim Benzema, who just returned to playing in Madrid’s 5-3 win in the Club World Cup against Al Hilal. Eder Militao has also been on the sidelines since he was subbed off in Real Madrid’s 2-0 win against Valencia a few weeks back.
Barca is only dealing with injuries to Ousmane Dembele and Sergio Busquets. Both are important players, but their absences have not stopped Barcelona from continuing their winning streak.
Sports Illustrated
There’s also each team’s remaining schedule. Since Barcelona wasn’t able to qualify for the knock-out stages of the Champions League, they’ll be playing in the Europa League. On the other hand, real Madrid qualified for the Champions League knock-out stages, so they’ll play against tougher teams.
Not to disrespect teams in the Europa League, but most people will agree that the Champions League is by far the toughest competition in Europe. Madrid must deal with teams such as Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Manchester City, and PSG.
In contrast, Barcelona’s toughest opponents may be Manchester United or Arsenal. Madrid will have to deal with a deeper pool of competition compared to Barca, on top of all the league games remaining.
Busybuddies
Last, Barcelona has shown a much more reliable defense than Real Madrid. The 1-0 result against Villarreal was Barca’s 16th clean sheet in 21 league games. Marc-Andre ter Stegen has only conceded six goals during that span as well.
Courtois has conceded 14 goals and kept four clean sheets in only 15 league matches this season. Keeping those clean sheets in 1-0 or 2-0 games is often the difference between dropping points or not.
It all points towards at least one trophy that Xavi and Barcelona can look forward to this season. Although, one can never be too sure because of the number of games players could get injured. Or where players may be riding cold streaks that cost the team points along the way.
Also, as Madrid showed over and over last season in the Champions League, just when you think you have them beaten, they come roaring back. An 11-point lead is something to get excited about, but a league has never been won in mid-February.
