Countdown for Barça… and nightmare for Madrid

La Liga is heating up… but not because Real Madrid has stepped up its game. The draw against Real Betis has added a little excitement to the matter,… and once again everything is going uphill for the Whites. Right now there is an 11 point gap and five rounds remain. Translated: this smells more like a final per match than a fight.

Because Real Madrid is not just slipping up one day, it has been in "let’s see what happens" mode for a while. No spark, no continuity, and worst of all, no feeling that they can turn the situation around. Before, at least they applied pressure… now not even that.

Meanwhile, Barça is at its own pace. Not going crazy, but adding points, which is what matters. Hansi Flick’s team is at the point where it no longer looks so much at the rival… but at when it can seal this.

But to be clear: it’s not so much about the calendar anymore, it’s about the lead.

Barça stands at +11, and this goes into “match point” mode:

If Real Madrid does not win next week, and Barça scores, it’s game over.

There’s even a crazy scenario: champions at the Clásico. Yes, that day, which would be the first in history, where in that match one of the two is crowned league champion.

And if it doesn’t happen then, at most it will be on the following matchday. Not much more.

So with five matches ahead, this doesn’t look like an epic comeback… it looks like just deciding when the curtain falls.

And here comes the best (or worst, depending on how you look at it): the blessed Clásico.

Because it’s not just a match. It’s The match. The one that all the fans around the world sit down for a couple of hours to watch one of the best games that can be played. We assume there will be no directors’ lunch, so Florentino and company will be spared the overwhelming joy that could surround that encounter. 

Madrid might have to deal with making a guard of honor… or flat out having a celebration held in their face. And of course, that hurts. A lot.

Given how things are going, Real Madrid is no longer fighting to win it. It is rather trying not to suffer something too humiliating. And that, for such a big club, stings quite a bit.

Meanwhile, in the upper echelons of Real Madrid, total silence. Not a single explanation for the elimination from the Copa del Rey, the Champions, and probably soon, La Liga.