As I was settling in to watch Real Madrid play Getafe on Saturday, I had to look at my text message twice.  Barcelona drew with Real Sociedad?  What?  When I last checked, Barcelona was comfortably leading 2-0.  They are the consistent team, once they have a lead, they rarely lose it.  OK, so they didn’t start some of their top players including David Villa and Lionel Messi, but Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez are no slouches.  Wait, Barcelona had a 2-0 lead when Villa came in?  Messi and Iniesta came in as well?  Shocking and completely unexpected are the words that come to mind.

Knowing that final score, as a Madridista I was relaxed as I sat down to watch Real Madrid take on Getafe.  All too quickly I remembered that there is a reason I should not listen to the “pundits” who say that La Liga is a 2 horse race.  I have little doubt that the other 18 teams in the top tier of La Liga could defeat some of the top English, German or Italian teams.  They can beat Barcelona and Real Madrid too.

Getafe looked the weaker side to start especially given Madrid’s multiple chances out of the gate.  At the 13^th minute, Mesut Özil set up Karim Benzema with a strong pass that Benzema rocketed in to the back of the net - time to settle in for a nice easy game and 3 points for Madrid.  Getafe had other ideas.  Continuous pressure, questionable defending and fancy dribbling by Getafe’s Miku brought them level with Madrid on the 39^th minute.

The second half would start in the same manner as the first ended, with Getafe pressing and Madrid failing to capitalize on opportunities.  It would be an accurate penalty call, but inaccurate placement that would allow Madrid to again take the lead in the 59^th minute as Cristiano Ronaldo converted a penalty kick.  Getafe’s keeper, Miguel Moyà, would be close, but not close enough.  Getafe’s anger and frustration was understandable.  That penalty kick was a game changer. 

As the game progressed, Madrid would continue to press, but Getafe refused to go away and a 2-2 draw seemed a definite possibility, but then Getafe would face the combination of Ronaldo and Benzema.  Ronaldo drew the keeper’s and defenders’ attention and then sent the ball across the pitch to an open Benzema who finished with perfection.  Madrid had a solid 3-1 lead at 69 minutes.  The celebrations would be short-lived though as Getafe resumed pressure and found a second goal less than 4 minutes later.  Substitutions were made and it was Kaká’s finesse and Gonzalo Higuaín’s power that would seal the victory with a fantastic goal in the 87^th minute.  Real Madrid would take their second victory and remain leaders in La Liga.

As I am sure Roger Federer can tell you right about now, it’s not about how you start, it is about how you finish.  Federer had two match points and Novak Djokovic’s U.S. Open run looked over.  It wasn’t and Djokovic is now in the finals.  Barcelona relaxed with a two goal lead and then couldn’t find solutions to Real Sociedad’s attacks and dropped points.  For Real Madrid, they never underestimated their opponent.  If they had backed off, Getafe would have beaten them, but Los Blancos kept fighting to the end and finished with perfection.  And that's the key for Real Madrid to become the champions - it’s all about the finish.

A.J. Nelson can be found on Twitter @FootieObsessed