After beating Milan 3-2 at the San Siro on Wednesday, i certainly was not expecting Defending European and Spanish League champions Barcelona to lose to Getafe.
If anything, i expected them to reduce the points margin on leaders Real Madrid who were themselves facing a tough opponent in Atletico Madrid at the Bernabeu. However, as fate would have it, the Blaugrana suffered a shock 1-0 defeat that left them 6 points off the pace in the La Liga standings.
As usual Barcelona dominated possession but as we all know that does count for anything if you do not convert it to goals. Meanwhile, their fierce rivals Real romped to a 4-1 home win over Atletico Madrid with Cristiano Ronaldo grabbing a brace to take his tally for the season to 14 one behind Lionel Messi.
On paper, Getafe had no chance against Barcelona. The home side had only won 1 of their 14 meeting with Barcelona before yesterday and in their history, they had only scored more the once against Barcelona in the 07/08 season when the beat the Catalans 2-0.
Whether this was an act of arrogance/over confidence on Barca’s part does not really matter as Guardiola knows that the chances of his side retaining the title are starting to slowly fade away. In essence, all La Liga fixtures hence are now a must win for Barcelona.
As Barcelona were mourning their loss, Real Madrid were celebrating a victory that sees them edging closer and closer toward a title they last won in 2010. I have to admit, Madrid are favourites to win the title this year and i am not just saying this because of yesterday’s results.
Looking at their form in both the league and Europe, they are the strongest team in both competitions. Having collected maximum points from all games in the Champions League group games so far, Madrid are looking to make it through to the knockout stages without dropping points.
Both competitions are definitely far from over, however, the writing is definitely on the wall for Guardiola and his team. If Barca are not careful, they could very well end the season without a major trophy something am sure will be a big disgrace to the club and its fans.
Photo Credit © totalsport
