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Madrid: Celebrations in store?

Real Madrid Home In On La Liga

A cursory glance at the top of the table in Spain shows Real Madrid sitting with a ten point advantage, which with 5 games to go puts them in a pretty healthy position.

In the greater scheme of things, this is no surprise as Madrid are always likely to be there or thereabouts and even though they have lost a large number of games this season, they look like being worthy winners.

What may cause a shock to the system is looking at second place and seeing the name Villarreal instead of Barcelona. The Yellow Submarine may just have a one point advantage going into the final stretch of the campaign but given Barcelona's poor form; would anyone doubt Villarreal's chances of keeping a tight grip on the runners up spot?

Publicly, no one from Barcelona will be conceding La Liga until it is mathematically impossible but there will definitely be a few nervous glances cast at Athletico Madrid in fourth place. With two tricky ties against Manchester United to occupy their minds as well as having tricky away trips to Deportivo La Coruna and the Bernabeu to play Real Madrid, there is no way that Barca can have great confidence of picking up a great number of points on the run-in. Given the way that they have thrown points away at home of late, the away games may actually be the least of Frank Rijkaard’s worries.

However, let’s not focus too much on mis-firing Barcelona at the moment as there is a title to be won and it looks as though it could be won sooner rather than later. A ten point lead with fifteen points to play for suggests that Madrid are two wins away from securing another championship win but if results go in their favour, the white half of Madrid could be celebrating as early as this weekend. The fact that Real Madrid kick off after both of their rivals have completed their games this weekend will mean they will know if they have the opportunity to win the title before they start their game.

It Could Be Won This Weekend
A Real Madrid win coupled with a Villarreal defeat and Barcelona not winning would be enough to give Bernd Schuster’s team an unassailable lead and whilst that is relying on a few ifs and buts, it is certainly no impossibility.

Madrid know if they keep winning the title will come eventually and they will fancy their chances of picking up 3 points at home to Athletico Bilbao. The team from Bilbao currently sit in seventh place and with an outside chance of clinching a place in next seasons Uefa Cup will be going to the Bernabeu with the fight to pick up a point or three but with the big prize being so close, you can only imagine that Real Madrid will be fully focused on what they need to do and should be able to see out the game.

Obviously Real Madrid do not have the distraction of Champions League football this midweek and whilst they may be looking on enviously as Barcelona and Manchester United clash, the opportunity to wrap up La Liga should keep their minds on the job.

It is pretty wrong to assume anything in football but sometimes strange things just seem to happen. If you don't believe us, just ask yourself why a highly paid professional footballer doesn't have the confidence to swing for the ball with his weaker foot but instead decides to try a crazy header in his own 6 yard box. Yes, the sight of John Arne Riise gifting Chelsea an injury time away goal and equalizer in the Champions League semi-final yet again proved that football is a strange game that can surprise you at every turn.

After that it is probably wrong to make any assumptions but for the sake of this article, let’s just assume that Real Madrid managed a home win over Athletico Bilbao, how likely are they to be celebrating?

Well for starters, both of their nearest rivals in La Liga are playing away from home in games that are definitely no certainties.

Will It Be Away Blues for the Yellows?
Second place Villarreal are away to Real Betis in the game that is probably more pertinent as to when Real Madrid can clinch the title.

Real Betis are comfortably mid-table, they aren't mathematically safe from relegation or completely ruled out of the race for Europe but the amount of other teams closer to these positions would indicate that they are unlikely to deviate much from their current position. When it gets to this time of the season, some teams in mid-table can slip into a comfort zone that is hard to snap out of and when they come up against a team with drive and motivation, they can often be swept aside.

Even if Villarreal don't genuinely believe they will be able to snatch La Liga this season there is a genuine reason to remain in second place above Barcelona as this would guarantee direct entry to the Champions League.

It can be easy to forget that only a few years ago, Villarreal were a Jens Lehmann penalty save away from knocking out Arsenal in the Champions League semi-final. It may be a different Villarreal side these days with Riquelme long gone but there is a current pedigree about the team that means they will be earnestly hunting down the automatic qualification spot. La Liga is a notoriously difficult league with teams capable of taking points off each other seemingly at random and this game is looking as though it could be an extremely intriguing encounter.

However, Villareal have so far managed 9 away victories in the league this season, the same tally as Real Madrid and over double what Barcelona have managed so they will not be giving up the title without a fight. This means in all likelihood that Villareal should be capable of putting in the sort of performance that keeps the league race ticking over for at least another week.

End Of An Era?
What of Barcelona though? Sandwiched in between their double header against Manchester United which represents their best chance of clinching a trophy this season, they have an extremely tricky fixture to negotiate. They may not have the same sort of quality as they did throughout the 1990s and early part of this decade but an away trip to the Estadio Riazor to face Deportivo La Coruna is not a game you would handpick as one to play in the pivotal week of your season.

Given Barcelona’s current run of domestic form and a Tuesday night trip to Old Trafford to plan for, it is very easy to believe that they will drop points this weekend, which would allow Real Madrid to write them off in the title race but could provide a great boost to Villarreal.

The annoying thing for most neutrals is that Barcelona make the trip to the Bernabeu on the 7th May and it looks as though the league will be done and dusted long before then. There is the intriguing subplot that a Real victory could propel Athletico Madrid into third place but there is a lot of football to be played before then.

By Andrew Reilly

for The Silver Circle at www.footballtip.co.uk

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