Why Real Madrid are the force to reckon with in La Liga?
The Spanish La Liga is the football to watch this season as Real Madrid are finding their feet once again and with the talent currently at their disposable, they are looking like the ominous force in the world of football.
Moreover, what makes La Liga more interesting than any of the other leagues around the world is its competitiveness. In England, only 4 teams have won the trophy in last 15 years and if you take out Blackburn’s miraculous victory in 1995, the count becomes
three. While in Spain, 5 teams have won the La Liga during the same period.
Only this season after just 9 games being played, we have seen the top of the table change 5 times with three teams swapping places with one another.
In addition to the competitiveness of the league, it has the star attraction of the world’s best players.
Of the 23 that were nominated for Ballon d’Or earlier this week, 13 earn their bread in La Liga. This fact alone speaks volumes about the star attraction and quality of the league.
Although, the league in recent years has been dominated by Real Madrid and Barcelona and after their sextuple a season ago, it looked like Barcelona were going to dominate the Spanish top division for a few years but in came Jose Mourinho and things have
already changed.
After 9 games in the season, Real are the league leaders and early signs are promising for the side from the Spanish capital. Real are finally living up to their stature and also the promises made by Florentino Perez.
Of course, it is still premature to conclude that Les Meringues are back as the invincible force in Spain but with every passing game, it looks like Madrid will be a difficult side to beat this season.
Real Madrid do not exude the indomitable aura, at least not yet, they don’t demolish their opponents like their counterparts Barcelona do, but Jose in his five months in charge has moulded a fine unit that is prolific in attack and miserly in defence.
With their recent thrashings of Racing Santander and Malaga, Real have made a statement of intent. In both the games, their opponents made positive and vibrant starts but such was the composure of their defense that the opponents never looked like taking
the lead. Although, it was a goal glut in both matches but the foundation of both their victories was built on their defence.
In both games, Madrid opened the scoring on counters and as their opponents tried to chase the game, they opened their defences with slick passing football.
It is no surprise to anyone that Madrid’s success this season is based on their defence, as one would expect from any side that is under the management of Jose Mourinho. Madrid have conceded just 4 goals this season and all four of them have been identical.
Long cross into the box with an unmark player taping the ball in or heading it. That is something that Madrid need to work on.
But, at the same time Madrid’s fixture list has also been kind to them as they have not yet been tested in the league unlike their counterparts. Mourinho was brought to Barnabeau for big games and the biggest game in the League will come at the weekend when
the Madridistas host their city neighbours Atletico in the Madrid derby.
But the fact of the matter is that this season’s Real is looking much stronger than last season and they are demolishing their opponents left right and centre while on the other hand, Barca are losing their aura of invincibility as their dropped points against
Hercules and Mallorca have demonstrated.
The shift of power may not be evident as yet but the winds of change have set in and it may take a few months or maybe even a full season.