For some time now, few football fans in Spain were expecting anything but a two horse race for this seasons La Liga title. But with Barcelona now four points clear at the halfway stage of the campaign, they may not even get that. And in truth, the new gap may ultimately be down to Real’s new coach Jose Mourinho.
Sunday saw the big two in action against sides at the other end of the league table. Barcelona entertained Málaga at the Nou Camp, in what proved to be their 13th consecutive win of the campaign.
First half goals from David Villa, Pedro and a stand out effort from Andreas Iniesta got the ball rolling for the Catalans. And although Duda did pull a goal back for big spending Málaga in the second half, any hope of a comeback was effectively extinguished six minutes later when Villa added a fourth for Pep Guardiola’s side.
Madrid meanwhile, travelled to rock bottom side Almeria in what on paper at least, looked like another easy three points. But with Gonzalo Higuain sidelined through injury, Jose Mourinho adopted a unique 4-5-1 formation with various members of a six man midfield taking up the striker position. All while French outcast Karim Benzema looked on from the bench.
And in a familiarly tetchy and tepid game, it was the home side Almeria that took the lead, fifteen minutes into the second half through Leonardo Ulloa. It took until the 77th minute for Esteban Granero to spare some of Mourinho’s blushes. But despite a late surge, it was a case of two very significant points dropped for Real.
Elsewhere, third placed Villarreal bounced back from a battling defeat against Madrid the previous weekend to crush mid-table Osasuna 4-2.
Argentine striker Marco Rubén opened the scoring on 22 minutes as the Yellow Submarine asserted their authority early in the match. But the second half saw Osasuna fighting back with Krisztian Vadócz scoring just after half time.
But the home side didn’t have to wait long to reclaim their lead, with midfielder Cani scoring from the half way line moments later. Joan Capdevilla then extended the lead, before former Villarreal player Javier Calleja reduced the deficit with eighteen minutes to go. The final goal of the game then came with four minutes to go, Gonzalo Rodriguez adding a fourth.
Fourth placed Valencia also enjoyed a morale boosting home win, over Deportivo La Coruna. The home fans had to wait until the 77th minute for the first goal, with Jeremy Mathieu scoring the opener. Midfielder Pablo Hernández then made the game safe in stoppage time, as Valencia maintained their three point gap over of fifth placed Espanyol.
The other team from Barcelona enjoyed arguably the standout result of the weekend, after winning away at the once mighty Sevilla. Goals either side of half time from midfielder José Callejón set Mauricio Pochettino’s side on their way and although Alvaro Negredo reduced the arrears in second half stoppage time, it was not enough to prevent Sevilla’s continued slide away from the European qualification places.
Sevilla’s aims weren’t helped much by their closest rivals either, with both Athletic Bilbao and Atletico Madrid winning.
Bilbao made a flying start against Racing Santander, with goals from Javi Martinez and Iker Muniain in the opening nine minutes. And though Iván Bolado scored for Racing just before half time, the late sending off of Pedro Munitis ended any hopes of a comeback.
Atletico meanwhile, stormed to a three goal victory against Mallorca on Monday. Valera and Diego Forlán scored in the first half to set the home side on their way. The second half was a stop start affair, punctuated by the sending off of Antonio López on 69 minutes for Atletico. The game did finish with something of a flurry however as first De Guzman saw red for Mallorca and then former Arsenal ‘Invinceable’José Antonio Reyes added a third in stoppage time.
Another side competing for a Europa League qualification place are Real Sociedad. The weekend saw the newly promoted side outclass rivals Getafe to record a memorable 4-0 victory. A Xabi Prieto penalty got things rolling after 9 minutes before an Antoine Griezmann volley settled any nerves just after the half hour mark.
The dying minutes then saw Mikel Aranburu take advantage of holes in the Getafe defence to score a brace (both assisted by Xabi Prieto) and add further gloss to an already impressive score line.
Meanwhile, there were much needed wins for strugglers Sporting Gijón and Real Zaragoza.
Gijón won against Hercules with the goals coming courtesy of first half strikes from David Barral and Nacho Cases. The win was only their third of the season and saw an end to a run of thirteen winless matches.
Real Zaragoza also won against fellow strugglers Levante through a 1-0 win, secured by talismanic midfielder Gabi’s goal on the stroke of half time.
In a weekend where one winning run was extended, a winless one ended and the race for Europe hotted up, Madrid and Mourinho had another one to forget. Winless, pressured and toothless this weekend – is this the beginning of the end?