Posted by A.J. Nelson
What? Madrid doesn’t need to take any notes on how to win. They currently stand at the top of La Liga with 20 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses. They have 61 points, are ahead of Barcelona by 10 points, and are well poised to win the league (and have the potential to surpass 100 points on the season). Already this year they have become the most successful group stage team in Champions League history; and they currently have the Pichichi (goal scoring) leader on their team (with Cristiano Ronaldo) along with 2 of the other 5 top goal scorers in La Liga with Gonzalo Higuaín (4th) and Karim Benzema (5th). They have an excessively talented group of players led by a coach who carries a winning mentality along with the trophies to prove it.
So what could possibly be wrong? Anyone who follows football can give you the answer to that question, they can’t beat Barcelona. They should be able to. Madrid annihilated Osasuna 7-1, a team that beat Barcelona 3-2 the other week. They took down Sevilla 6-2 when Barcelona could only squeak out a nil-nil draw at home at the Camp Nou.
So why can’t they beat this Barcelona team? They will have at least one more chance this season (and possible more depending on the Champions League) to allow the pundits to give their wild theories and point out their "clear" problems. There are people that believe if Real Madrid can’t beat Barcelona then Mourinho needs to be fired. That if they can’t beat them, the team should reassess their players. That if they can’t beat Barcelona all is lost for Real Madrid.
In the past 2 years, Real Madrid has only been able to earn 1 victory over Barcelona (and that took extra time on a neutral field for the Copa Del Rey title). Real Madrid has lost to Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup, the Champions League, La Liga and, this season, in the Copa Del Rey. But what is the problem? Real Madrid has had plenty of goal scoring opportunities in the majority of those games, yet the goals that they score so frequently against other teams fail to materialize. Their defense (that has allowed an average of less than one goal a game this season) allowed Barcelona to score 3 (the most any team has scored against them). One cannot sit here and say that Barcelona is not a good team. They are. But is Barcelona better than Real Madrid? Is Pep Guardiola better than José Mourinho? Or when it comes to El Clásico, is it simply all in their minds?
Madridistas continue to be left scratching their heads and wondering about those things that make you go hmmmmm… So here is a thought - maybe Real Madrid’s footballers should have a talk with the basketball players. Kyle Singler, in particular, could impart some wisdom from his days at Duke with Coach “K”. Singler knows what it is like to regularly face an arch nemesis (North Carolina) and clearly he has learned how to defeat them. Perhaps he can share a secret or two and break the cycle…hmmm…
World Football Daily
