Barcelona vs Real Madrid: The battle for supremacy has begun

There is no better time to examine the dominance of Football Club Barcelona on world football than the present. They have won numerous trophies in the recent seasons with a dominance like never before. The Catalan club’s playing style has been widely admired and they are tipped as the greatest football of all time; but as we all know, there is always an end to a cycle and perhaps we are reaching there.

It is not that Barcelona will not remain the force they are but they are probably not going to be alone at the top anymore. The recent results against AC Milan and Real Madrid have provided enough evidence of this change. Their inability to eliminate Chelsea from Champions League last season and failure to win big matches this season gives us the hint that their competitors have now learnt the method to neutralize Barcelona and match shoulders with them.

The biggest challenge faced by Barcelona is the resurgence of Real Madrid who have looked more dangerous and stronger in their recent meeting like never before in the past decade. It will not come as a surprise if we say that Real Madrid is not much far behind Barcelona.

Barcelona had been handed their worst home defeat against their bitter rivals in long time and every time these clubs have met this season, the capital club arguably have had more chances of winning the game. The difference is quality between the two clubs is now narrowing down with Real Madrid looking more dangerous in their recent ties. It cannot be argued that both of these clubs possess the finest of talent in the world, but the competition between these two clubs had never been this close in a long time.

This can be proved by the fact that in their total five meetings this season, Barcelona has won just one with Real Madrid winning two and remaining two ended up all square. These two victories have been crucial for Real as they won the Spanish Super cup and eliminated Barcelona from Copa Del Rey.

A lot was said about the appointment of Jose Mourinho in 2010 as Madrid’s manager and the challenge he would face to keep up with a club like Barcelona. It started off with a 5-0 drubbing for the capital club by the hands of their arch rivals, raising doubts about their manager and the team. In the last ten meetings between the two teams in all competitions, Barcelona won an impressive 6 games while Real Madrid managed only two wins with remaining two ended as draws. The story this season has been totally different with the Madrid club looking better as a team in comparison to their rivals.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s form has also been a huge boost for Madrid as he has scored in all of his last six visits to the Camp Nou. Mourinho has learnt his lessons and Barcelona has only not lost a home game against Real Madrid, but they have also lost their confidence and maybe their supremacy.

Barcelona still holds an unassailable lead at the top of the league but they know that Real Madrid is catching up fast. The league title is more or less decided but the competition to establish them as the world’s greatest club has become more intense and exciting.