For more than two-thirds of the season, many believed that a revolution in the League was possible. Not regularly seeing either Barcelona or Atlético de Madrid in Champions League positions had unleashed nervousness and the uncertainty in two of the great hobbies of our football. The culés, until the arrival of Xavi Hernández, seemed to have it in Chinese. The rojiblancos hit bottom and now they seem to be living their best moment of the year.
The causes of this mess can be found in the planning of the squads, various injuries and also in the high performance of teams such as Betis or Real Sociedad. The people from Seville gave up their Champions League position on the last day of the League to an Atlético de Madrid that has picked up cruising speed. Three consecutive wins in the League with two clean sheets and a great match in the Champions League against United give us a good example that recovery is a fact. In this streak there have been differential factors such as the resurrection of joao felix and the fall to the bench of Luis Suárez. Simeone has known how to recalibrate a team that has regained its spirit of solidarity by holding on to the great form of Kondogbia.
At Barça, the appearance of Xavi He has taken the focus away from the players and has transferred it to a coach who, with his speech, has managed to make the fans fall in love again. It is true that the arrivals on the right foot of Aubameyang, Ferran or Adama have helped, but it is also true that the coach was able to identify the problems that were inherited from the Koeman era. The recovery of a Pedri who has brought with him a lot of debate at his 18 years with comparisons with Iniesta or Zidane has also been fundamental. The fact is that the Catalans have added five victories in six games in the League since they saw themselves with options in the Super Cup against Real Madrid.
Precisely the whites should not fear a hypothetical comeback with the ample cushion that they still have in 11 league games, but they should not neglect. The culés have a progression worthy of when Laporta signed Davids in his first year as president of Barça. Ancelotti’s boys have cemented their leadership in a superlative defense personified in Courtois and Militao and an attack where Benzema and Vinicius are the couple of the year.
There is less and less time left to catch up with the meringues and Sevilla, second to eight points, seems to be focusing more on the Europa League final that is played at their stadium than on bidding for a League that is beginning to escape them because of of their lack of reliability away from home, where they have added more draws than victories. Lopetegui will have to make a decision, but it seems that his place in the Champions League is assured with a nine-point advantage over Betis, the one that now marks the line of the Europa League. For a moment this season it seemed that both the rojiblancos and the Catalans could fall to the second European competition. After a lot of paddling, they are finally where they belong.