It has been a deliberate quirk
of Liga's fixture list over recent years that the two major clubs from each of Spain's two major cities meet at the same time,
or at least on the same weekend, of the calendar: Catalonia
goes to Castille, while Castille comes to Catalonia. In an Iberia
where conspiracy theories are easily stimulated, it was once thought within Catalonia, home of Barcelona
and Espanyol, that making Barcelona take on Atletico Madridon the same weekend that Real Madrid meet Espanyol was a means to subtly allow
Real Madrid an advantage.
Why so? Because Espanyol are
never title contenders, at least in modern history. But the big two clubs,
Atletico and Real, from the Spanish capital, can be, and are. They have both
been champions in the last four years, interrupters of Barcelona's 21st century hold on that prize.
But in the 18 months since
Atletico famously grabbed the Liga title from Barca on the last day of the
2103-14 season, by drawing 1-1 at Camp Nou, the sporting heart of Catalonia,
Barca have learned to master both Madrid's best clubs. Of all the home wins -
11 out of 12 Primera Division matches - accumulated by Barca this season,
Saturday's 2-1 win over Atletico looks the most significant.
It was certainly one of their
toughest. Atletico took the lead, through Koke, and when Atletico have a lead,
they usually have lock-down mechanisms installed in their hardware to hold at
least a point. For that characteristic, Atletico going 1-0 up against versus
free-scoring Barcelona
promised intrigue, fascination. The contest supplied both on Saturday.
Containment is what Diego Simeone's Atletico do excellently; they
counter-attack efficiently too. They are a stubborn challenge for a team like Barcelona.
But this is an exceptional Barcelona, even by the
standards set by the Barca of Frank Rijkaard's management in the mid-2000s, and
even compared with the dynasty established by Pep Guardiola in the garlanded
years between 2008 and 2012. Barcelona under Luis Enrique, who took over as
head coach at Camp Nou 18 months ago, have something those predecessors did
not: His Barcelona have played Atletico six times; they have won all of those
matches, in Cup and league.
If there is a feather to plant
in the cap of Luis Enrique besides the obvious, heavily plumed ones of a
Champions League title, a Liga in his first season there, a Copa del Rey, a
European Super Cup and a FIFA Club World Cup, it is the habit of beating the
most resistant, rugged team in Spain, and the team who last interrupted
Barcelona's status as likeliest Liga winners: Atletico. For all the
baggage-laden rivalry with Real Madrid, Atletico put alarm into Barcelona like no other
Spanish adversary, and not always for reasons the soccer purist instinctively
respects. They are rough. The horror that registered on Luis Enrique's face on
Saturday when Felipe Luis, by no means one of Simeone's most ferociously
pugnacious combatants, inflicted a damaging thud on Lionel Messi's knee, felt
visceral.
Felipe Luis, quite correctly,
was sent off for that foul. Atletico also lost Diego Godin, whose regular
misjudgements of the line that separates hardness from brutality are the
impediment between his being regarded as just a superb modern centre-half and
being spoken of as the very best in the world in his position, to a red card.
Yet Simeone could not be begrudged his praise of his team for competing, even
with nine men against Barcelona's
11. "I feel proud," said Simeone, "If you have to lose, you want
lose like we did." Even an understaffed Atletico had remained competitive,
a worry to the Barcelona of Messi --€“ who scored the equalizer -- of Neymar,
and of Luis Suarez, who scored the winning goal.
But, fact is, Atletico are less
of a worry now as challengers for the Liga title, and by a distance.
Barcelona's win means a three-point cushion at the top, over Simeone's outfit,
for Luis Enrique's men with 16 matches to go, or, rather, 17 matches to go for
Barca, who have played one game fewer than Atletico and Real Madrid, who are
third thanks to their straightforward three points.
Against Espanyol, at the
Bernabeu, Real were close to guaranteed a win. Espanyol may be citizens to
Spain's second city; they may have a strong, defined support-base in urban
Catalonia; they may be in a state of optimism for having attracted investment from
the Chinese magnate Chen Yansheng, now the majority shareholder in the club who
declared his intention to have the club playing Champions League soccer within
three years in the lead-up to the visit to the Bernabeu. But they are still
regular fall-guys to Madrid's
gluttonous goalscorers.
Cristiano Ronaldo, for instance,
loves playing Espanyol more than any other Spanish opponent. He scored five
times against them earlier this season. By half-time on Sunday, he had scored
another two, his second goal a work of wonder, with two brilliant pieces of
bagatelle dribbling, left foot to right, in the preamble of the virtuoso strike
that put Real Madrid 4-0 up before half time.
Ronaldo had already converted a
penalty, to add to Karim Benzema's early header. James Rodriguez, with a
heavily deflected shot, scored Madrid's
third. Ronaldo then headed in for his hat-trick in the second half, and, in
doing so, maintained Madrid's remarkable home record under the nascent
management career of Zinedine Zidane of a win every game, with at least five
goals per match. This time it would be six, once Jese, a substitute, forced the
luckless Espanyol defender, Oscar Duarte, to divert past his own goalkeeper,
for 6-0.
http://www.foxsports.com/soccer/story/barcelona-real-madrid-show-their-strengths-at-top-of-the-table-013116
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