LaLiga title race seems all but over
AP Photo/Joan Mateu
Out of the four Clasicos that have been played this season, the one this past Sunday appeared to carry the most weight. It was clear from the first whistle; the fans were invested, and the managers constantly gave instructions and never sat down. The players also showed how much this game means to each of them.
The game virtually had it all, and it was F.C. Barcelona getting the victory, with 2-1 being the final score, ending with Franck Kessié scoring the winner in the 92nd minute.
However, it was Real Madrid who got the early lead in the game when Vinicius meant to send in a cross but was deflected off the head of Ronald Araujo and into his own net. Barca had most of the chances in the first half and the game overall, with seven shots on goal compared to Madrid’s three. Fortunately for the Catalans, it was Sergi Roberto who equalized after a series of blocks and rebounds in the Madrid box that finally fell to him, making it 1-1 right before halftime.
FCBN
There were even more chances from both sides in the second half. Valverde came close, Rodrygo sending his shot just over the crossbar, Raphinha forcing Courtois to make more difficult saves, and Robert Lewandowski blasting a scissor kick just over the crossbar as well.
Both managers brought on various substitutions, one including Marco Asensio. With less than 10 minutes left, Dani Carvajal sent in a cross to find the foot of Asensio and score the second goal for Madrid, sucking the life out of everyone at the Spotify Camp Nou until VAR got involved. After a pause in the celebration, it was determined that Asensio was just offside, and the goal did not count.
Not too much longer after that, Robert Lewandowski back-heeled a pass to Alejandro Balde down the left channel. The youngster picked his head up and delivered a picture-perfect pass to Franck Kessié, who calmly slotted it past Courtois. The goal appeared to have handed Barcelona their first league since the 2018/19 season. The victory was also Barca’s 100th Clasico win, and the goal from Kessie was the 3,000th goal scored by Barcelona at Camp Nou.
Mathematically, the title race is not over. There are 12 match days left in the season, but 12 points at this point of the season are almost insurmountable. This would be the largest point margin for a champion since Pep Guardiola’s team broke the record for the largest margin almost a decade ago when they won the league by 15 points.
There’s also each team’s difficulty of schedule. Real Madrid is still competing in the Champions League, so they’ll have five more games at most if they make it to the final, while Barcelona only has to concern themselves with their remaining league games and the Copa Del Rey if they finish the job in the return leg against Real Madrid.
MARCA
Speaking only of LaLiga games, Madrid have more home games left and fewer games against top-10 teams in the league. However, the Catalan club has been as close to impeccable as you can get in LaLiga.
As they stand, they have scored the most goals, conceded the least amount of goals, and have the leading goal scorer, Lewandowski, on their team. It would be a tremendous mountain to climb for Los Blancos, especially if the players focus solely on the Champions League.
This could be beneficial if they win a 15th Champions League, but on the flip side, this could be the first season in a long time that Real Madrid doesn’t win a single trophy, a reality that could bring many changes to the capital team in the summer.
