Reality check

A humiliation? An embarrassment? Well, both but also something else, something that has been coming for a while, a reality check. Barça´s 6-2 thrashing of Real Madrid in the Bernabeau last night brought to an end the ridiculous notion of Real Madrid winning the La Liga this year. Indeed, going into the game, Real Madrid were being touted as favourites by many in the pro-Madrid press. Both Marca and AS, two daily Spanish football magazines, were full of stories and predictions of Madrid’s historic come back to win the league. It was going to be won on the last day of the season, predicted Marca. The source of this prediction was none other than the Nostradamus of Spanish football, Real Madrid midfielder Marcelo. So this begs the question, how could they be so wrong? It’s true that Real Madrid had been on a very good run in terms of picking up points. However, this was down to the poor quality of opposition and competition in this year’s league race. The only time since Christmas that Real Madrid have played a team with quality was when they faced Liverpool and on that occasion they suffered a similar wake up call. Another reason is simply the self-deception of the pro-Madrid press. Whether it is to sell copies or just to avoid the hard truth as long as possible, the pro-Madrid press has been watching this year’s league with blinkered vision. Well, I can now report that this vision has gone as quickly as the Real Madrid supporters leaving the stadium last night. For those of us who have had to listen to the dribble from the Madrid press over the last few months, last night’s result was as sweet as it gets. However, don’t get me wrong. Although my sympathies lie with the Catalan giants, I am first and foremost a football fan and therefore have a great deal of respect for Real Madrid as a club and football institution. It doesn’t give me great pleasure to see a Real Madrid that is embarrassed in Europe by the English runners up, that contains only one world class player and that for the time being cannot even compete with Europe’s elite to sign any. For a while now, Real have settled for average players and abandoned the idea of playing attractive football. Last night’s experience might be the wake up call that works. I know it’s hard for the Real Madrid supporters to accept but last night’s result was necessary if Real Madrid are to become great again.