Espanyol creates hope for Real Madrid
If there is one word that can describe the Spanish league it is probably “Agony”. When Barcelona had defeated Real Madrid last week, everyone believed that they will be crowned league champions. However, today they stumbled upon a strong Espanyol.
Guardiola had said earlier this week that winning the league was not going to be easy because he has to face good teams ahead.
Espanyol had the perfect plan to shut down Barcelona. They pressured the back line, forcing the defenders to repeatedly clear the ball. In the midfield Xavi found himself shut down in the hands of Forlin and Baena.
Barcelona demonstrated impotence, Messi was not getting the ball, and in occasions he tried to be the hero but was easily stopped by Pareja on defense. Valdes repeatedly played the ball long (something we had not seen since the pre-Guardiola era), and Alves was sent off 30 minutes before the end of the match.
Before the end of the first half, Victor Valdes cleared a header by Osvaldo, which could have ended in a goal and changed the outcome of the match.
If Real Madrid can defeat the inspired Valencia, then the gap will be shortened to one point. Can Real Madrid win the league? Or will Barcelona remain as leader and win the Champions league in the Bernabeu and finish to put the title of “failure” to Florentino Perez’ Galactico project? We will not know the answer until the last game of the season.
