Though Real Madrid is 8 points adrift of Vilanovo’s Barcelona after the end of “el clasico” (which ended a 2-2 draw), Mourinho’s side is still in the hunt for the title and in remarkable form despite their bad start to the season.
8 points clear of last season’s champions – Real Madrid, Barcelona are definitely in the driving seat but they appear to be losing their domestic dominance following the departure of Pep Guardiola. On the other hand Madrid are getting their grip back with a sensational 3-2 victory over Manchester city in a champions league match, and two back to back hat-tricks by Cristiano Ronaldo followed by a brace against Barcelona.
Cristiano Ronaldo has now scored in his last five appearances at Camp Nou, also becoming the first player ever to register in six successive Clasico clashes. At the Camp Nou, Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 160th and 161st competitive goals in a Real Madrid shirt. The Real Madrid’s Legend Raúl took 16 seasons to reach 323 goals, the club’s all-time record, while the Portuguese has racked up half this tally (49.8%) in little over three years.
At present, Mourinho’s side looks slightly stronger than Barcelona but one should not forget that Barcelona are 8 points ahead of Real Madrid.That could matter a lot in deciding the Title . If Real Madrid really want to defend their title then they will have to treat each game from now on with equal importance as any slip up could practically mean the end of the road for them. Barca haven’t dropped points against any other team so far but they had to make comebacks after going down on more than one occasion. They looked nervy and a game against the in form Malaga or Athletico would be very tricky for them.
So the title race is not yet over. At least that’s how Kaká and Marcelo feel. “Of course the title race is still open”, Real Madrid’s two Brazilians said en-route to joining up with their national team in Poland. Not only Kaká and Marcelo but Real Madrid icon Raul also feels that the league is still open.
In a newspaper interview he said – “I would obviously have liked it if had Madrid won the game and closed the gap on Barca a bit, but a draw was a fair result in my opinion, Both teams were on top of their game and put in a good performance, looking for a reward in the form of the full three points. Neither of the teams got the victory they were after, but it was a game to remember. The title race isn’t over just yet. There are still many games to be played. It’s true that Barcelona are in a better position, though, as they maintained their eight-point lead.”