May
7
Real Madrid beats Barcelona
Filed Under Primera Division |
Real Madrid topped of their La Liga championship with a 4-1 victory over their arch-rivals, Barcelona. Barcelona has now lost six of their last seven and sits at third place in the standings. Real just dominated this game and took advantage of Barcelona’s struggling defense. Raul and Arjen Robben started the scoring early and Gonzalo Higuain and Ruud van Nistelrooy would follow up with scores later in the game. Barcelona seemed intimidated and weak perhaps due to the absences of Samuel Eto’o (suspended), Deco (also suspended), Gabriel Milito, and Andres Iniesta (both injured.) Either way it was a disappointing and humiliating loss for the team.
Thierry Henry scored late for Barca, but to no avail. It made the loss no less painful with Barcelona’s cold streak still alive. With two matches remaining, Real Madrid is at the top of the standings with 81 points, followed by Villarreal at 71 and Barca at 64. With this loss Barca can no longer finish in second. It really couldn’t have gone much worse for Barcelona, who also got handed the sweep by their bitter enemies with this loss. On top of that they came into the game after Madrid secured their title, meaning that even the pre-game celebrations in and around the stadium were demeaning.
This is basically a low point for Barcelona as they eagerly anticipate the end of a horrible season. They hope to bounce back next year with new coach, Josef Guardiola. It is likely that many other changes will also be made to turn the team around. Guardiola is the current coach of Barcelona FC B (the reserve team) and management believes he is ready to take over the main team. Looking at this season in retrospect, there isn’t really a place where he can go other than up. There is no doubt the team will remember the miserable trip to Madrid this year as they try to win against them next year.