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How will Real Madrid’s Copa del Rey exit to Barcelona shape La Liga’s title race?

Angela Asante, January 28 2012,
Following what happened in the 2011/12 Copa del Rey quarterfinals, should Barcelona and their fans fear Real Madrid’s threat in La Liga even more?

The race between Real Madrid and Barcelona is tight!

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This Copa del Rey quarterfinal fiasco has left Real Madrid with a lot of positives to take. The second leg of the tie, especially, has opened a way for Los Blancos to follow. Defender Alvaro Arbeloa couldn’t explain this better. He was quoted as stating by Real Madrid’s official website:

“We've managed to get rid of our psychological anxiety and fear to lose against Barcelona. It's hard to be strengthened after being eliminated, but we realize we can defeat them and we're looking forward to our next meeting.”

Indeed, it seems like Jose Mourinho and his men have found the key to unlock Barcelona’s secrets. You cannot look at the 2-2 draw in Camp Nou and talk about humiliation for Madrid.

 

Few teams, if not none, would dare to do a comeback against Barca like the Spanish giants did on January 25. They were 2-0 down – 4-1 on aggregate – but they lost no hope. They didn’t play to manage the deficit. They played to score and to win the tie. In fact, they came this close to making wonders at the Camp Nou.  

“We would like referees to be fairer,” Arbeloa moaned in the aftermath of Real Madrid’s Spanish cup exit before adding:

“The ref hurt us in small details. Some fouls and bookings we saw hurt us, and you can't end the match when a foul has been made in midfield.”

“When Barcelona play well, they're winning. If their opponents play better than them, the referee will help them to win.” These are exact words coming out from Eladio Parames, a spokesman for Jose Mourinho.

A vast portion of football fans around the world actually share Parames’ opinion. Whether this comment is true or false, pro-Barcelona fans can laugh it off. Their team is certainly the best on the planet. The Catalans humiliate elites, win matches and triumph in competitions; this explains why their trophy cabinet is so full since Pep Guardiola’s appointment in the summer of the year 2008.

As long as freedom of expression exists, don’t expect the Blaugrana to bother comments from their anti-supporters. Guardiola and his players have vowed to focus on football and nothing else; noise from the media about referees and cheating is not Barcelona’s concern. 

As of now, Real Madrid are going into the second phase of the Spanish Primera Division as leaders for the first time since the 2007/08 season. That’s a fact; Pep Guardiola and all Barca supporters must face it.

There is a 5-point gap between the first and the second spot in the table but this distance could diminish in a blink of an eye because Barcelona have the expertise of champions. Remember that they have won the last three editions of La Liga.

However, it seems like the desire for revenge is boiling at the Santiago Bernabeu. By the time the Spanish giants will clash against their bitter foes in the second leg of El Clasico on April 22, what will La Liga’s race look like?  

During the next 19-match period in the Spanish Primera Division, Barcelona will have to deal with their growing injury list besides trying to improve on their inconsistent away form. Meanwhile, don’t overlook third-place Valencia…

 

The top three in La Liga ahead of the second phase of the tournament:

POS.   TEAM MP W D L GF GA D P
PRIMERA DIVISIÓN 2011/2012
1   Real Madrid 19 16 1 2 67 18 +49 49
2   Barcelona 19 13 5 1 59 12 +47 44
3   Valencia 19 10 5 4 29 20 +9 35



 

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