When Real Madrid could only manage a 1-1 draw vs Atletico Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu, despite of Diego Simeone’s side being down to ten men, most people thought that the La Liga title race was as good as over. But Barcelona have now handed Carlo Ancelotti’s team a huge lifeline, by losing away to Almeria by a 1-0 scoreline.
Considering how consistent Barcelona have been in recent times, not many would have seen this result coming. Especially with Almeria trying to stay up in La Liga this season.
But on the day, Barcelona just did not seem up for it. It looked like their midweek elimination from the UEFA Europa League at the hands of Manchester United, had taken a toll on them and led to a poor performance.
Of course, that turned out to be good news for Real Madrid, with the gap between the two sides now standing at seven points. In a week in which they had a Derby, while Barcelona came up against relegation contenders, Ancelotti’s side will certainly take it.
Xavi clearly was not happy with the performance that his side put in on the day against Almeria. As reported by ESPN, the Barcelona manager said after the match.
"I am really angry."
"It was the worst game of the season from my point of view, above all in the first half. It was a day to make a statement in LaLiga, and there is no excuse. There was no intensity, there was not even a desire to win, and that worries me. We slipped up and we apologise to the fans. If we want to win LaLiga, we have to change chip."
"Luckily we have a seven-point cushion, but we know it’s going to be hard to win LaLiga. The first half is the thing that has most disappointed me this season. We showed faith in the second half, but the first half angered me."
Of course, seven points is still a big gap. But with one more El Clasico still left to be played, things could certainly get interesting if Real Madrid can win that and Barcelona drop more points here and there.
If Real Madrid are to win La Liga this season, they will have to be close to perfect between now and the end of the season. Hopefully, Barcelona dropping points against Almeria gives Los Blancos the boost that they needed to go on that kind of a run.