The Stretch Run: Two things Real, Barca and Sevilla need to do to win La Liga?
Sports are no different. We will always remember the wild finishes and herculean upsets, it’s something we constantly crave but all know better than to expect. Lucky for us, this year’s La Liga title race could be shaping up to become exactly what we’ve been looking for. Going into the season, many expected the title to once again come down to Real Madrid and Barcelona with Atletico playing the role of annoying mosquito, hanging around long enough to get a few bites in on its much larger and powerful rivals until focus took control and one swift slap had them smashed and unrecognizable.
That mosquito still lingers, only this time it hails from Andalusia, and wears the red and white of Jorge Sampaoli’s Sevilla. With their fiery, baldheaded manager of awesomeness, Sevilla have brought an attacking brand of football to the league that flows without fear. It oozes from their pores, playing every match to win irrespective of the XI standing across from them, doing it the only way they know how -- balls-to-the-wall. So far the approach has worked beautifully, as Los Rojiblancos currently sit in 3rd place just a mere 3 points behind table leaders Real Madrid. Although the Merengues possess 2 games in hand, Sevilla have already proven themselves more than formidable, coming back to win from a 1-0 deficit with 5 minutes to play and ending Madrid’s 40-game unbeaten run in the process.
With the halfway point of the season just having passed, all three clubs have issues that still need to be corrected as they approach the finish line. With no clear-cut favorite at the moment, let’s examine a couple of things each side needs to happen in order to be lifting the trophy when all is said and done.
Real Madrid
Stay healthy - Injuries are part of the game. Every team will be hit with a few at some point in the season so, sporting directors plan the best way they can by signing reinforcements that could step-in and minimize the damage. For the most part, this season Real Madrid’s bench has done just that. Still, the amount of surgeries that this Real Madrid squad has had to undergo in the past three seasons has been borderline insane, and it’s only gotten worse this season. Ten out of eleven starters in last season's Champions League final have already been sidelined by physical problems this season. In fact, out of 24 first team players, only seven have not missed a single game due to injury after three months of this season: Kiko Casilla, Yanez, Raphael Varane, Nacho, Danilo, Marco Asensio, Lucas Vazquez and Mariano, of whom only Varane is someone who challenges for a starting role. Key players are set to return in the coming week which should provide a much needed infusion of talent into the starting XI. Keeping it together for longer than a week is the next challenge that awaits.
Get the BBC back up and running - It’s no surprise that Real Madrid are at their best when they have Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo playing together. Getting that to actually happen, well, that’s an entirely different story altogether. Having been out since November with damaged ankle tendons, Bale is aiming to return for Madrid’s UCL fixture against Napoli next week. Before the injury, Bale had played in 11 out of 12 La Liga matches, scoring five goals and assisting his teammates twice. Numbers aside, the Welshman looked like the most in-shape player in the squad and someone who actually had the audacity to challenge Ronaldo’s throne as the club’s best player. Without him in the line-up, both Benzema and Ronaldo have been shadows of their former selves, often looking sloppy and bereft of any type of productive game-plan once they receive the ball. Getting all three back at their humming and counter-attacking best will be imperative for Los Blancos going forward.
Barcelona
Bench consistency - If you were trying to pinpoint the biggest difference separating Barcelona from their other two rivals this season, look no further than the play of their respective benches. Newcomers Andre Gomes and Paco Alcacer have been unmitigated disasters, Aleix Vidal looked to be out the door at one stage, while Lucas Digne has received about as much pitch time as a drunken streaker. Fortunately for Cules everywhere, the last two weeks have brought a glimmer of hope for a few mentioned above. Alcacer scored his first league goal in almost 10 months on Saturday and in doing so displayed the predatory precision that was all too common at Valencia. Aleix Vidal has suddenly turned into the second coming of Messi, seemingly scoring goals in every match and wrestling the starting RB job out of Sergi Roberto’s dead, lifeless fingers. With Barca still in play for all three trophies available Luis Enrique will need to rotate the squad and have confidence in doing so.
Take the pressure off of Leo - Much too often this season Barca have only gone as far as Leo Messi takes them. He has been their best finisher, passer, free-kick taker, playmaker and yes, sometimes, even defender. This season he has scored 16 goals in 18 matches with 4 coming by way of the free-kick…and during the current calndar year, too. If that wasn’t impressive enough, they've often arrived in the dying embers of a match when it appears all hope was lost. Still, even an extraterrestrial like Messi needs help from time to time. Neymar must become a leader on the field and stop allowing opposing teams to sledge him off his game. Whoever is trotted out to occupy the midfield must get back to controlling the tempo with their passing and get back to instituting a possession-centered attacking philosophy. All of these things will make Barca a better-rounded squad, one that would make them incredibly hard to beat going forward.
Sevilla
Start defending somebody - Scoring goals is something that comes easy to Jorge Sampaoli lead sides -- always has, always will. His first season in charge of Sevilla has been no different, evidenced by their 43 goals in 21 games. Unfortunately, their sides other responsibility on the field, i.e., defending, has far too often been neglected. 28 goals have seen the back of the net on Sevilla’s defense, a staggering 10 more than any other La Liga side currently sitting in the top 5 of the table. Sampaoli’s preferred 3-4-3 formation puts a ton of pressure on defensive midfielder Steven N’Zonzi, who up to this point in the season has been the second coming of N’Golo Kante. If Sevilla truly wants to remain in this title race until the latter stages of the campaign, their club has to put a larger emphasis on defending, especially from the back three.
Take care of business away from the Sanchez Pizjuan - Until this season, Sevilla’s form of futility away from home was the stuff of legends. A year and a half, more precisely 22 games, had gone by that they failed to win away from their home ground. To the benefit of Sevillanos’ mental health everywhere, the club finally ended the streak in October with a win over Leganes. This season they have posted a record of 5-3-3 on the road, which is respectable, but it’s about to get a whole lot tougher. Matches remain at Barcelona, Atletico, Las Palmas, Valencia and Real Madrid. This makes it imperative that Sevilla not slip up and at least get a point from their remaining opponents, or face the prospect of fighting merely to qualify for the Champions League.
Justin Sherman @JShermOfficial