Consequences of this week's results for Europe's top teams
More than half the football season has concluded and as all the European League competitions head towards their respective finales, the final battles which will eventually decide the fates of the teams this season have already started taking shape. The week gone by saw many results we expected and some we did not, across all top European Leagues involving the top teams. Teams like Real Madrid, Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Bayern Munich had good days at the office while the mighty Chelsea found themselves halted by a relegation threatened team. Giants like Manchester United and Barcelona on the other hand slipped up and crashed to upset defeats at the hands of lower placed teams.The week may not have been a weekend of derbies or big matches, but it has been immense in terms of putting in the corner pieces of the jigsaw that is the final standings of top European teams. We analyse the weekend’s results of all the big teams across Europe and speculate what it means for them.
#1 Real Madrid
Result: Won 2-0 against Elche
After a near perfect start to this year’s La Liga campaign, the Los Blancos seemed to have lost their way for a bit. Carlo Ancelotti’s men had lost two of their last four league games on the road ahead of visiting 17th place Elche.
The seemingly nominal drop in form was cause for some concern to Ancelotti. Real Madrid’s brief slip-up in recent weeks have seen arch rivals Barcelona cut down Real’s lead to a single point ahead of the match.
Despite notching up a 2-0 win against the struggling side, Madrid were far from their regal best. The La Liga leaders, however, did put in a professional display and managed to come out with the desired points.
Madrid seemed far from the tantalizing aggressive team they were at the beginning of the season. However, the performance showed that Ancelotti’s men have the required tenacity and professionalism to see off games where the touch-of-the-green seems to be working against them.
The win gives the Los Blancos some breathing space at the top with Barcelona slipping up to Malaga at home. Hard fought wins like this week’s is going to be vital if Real Madrid expects to keep Barca at bay until the end of the season.