RMadridGirl Nov. 2013 | Page 8

WILL THE 33RD HAVE TO WAIT?

Oh what a roller coaster this Liga season has been for Real Madrid....

We were off to a great start and it was not until the derbi that the team started to lose confidence. Eternal rivals Barcelona and Atletico de Madrid have outstanding records so far and the key to surpass them was to beat them both, unfortunately we lost to Atleti at home and to Barcelona at Camp Nou. Two teams which were beaten last year by a Real Madrid team with a lot of starters rested. The draw against Villareal in the 4th week was significant because neither Atleti nor Barcelona were dropping points however everything turned around last week when Real Madrid beat Malaga and both rivals dropped points. Against Barcelona, at their Camp Nou, Real Madrid found the golden opportunity to co-lead La Liga again, unfortunately, the game was not at all what was expected and Real Madrid lost to Barcelona 14 months later.

Let's talk about numbers. The Liga season started with Real Madrid displaying a very weak defense but a very confident Diego Lopez. As the weeks have progressed, I have seen a major improvement specially with Varane's recovery and Pepe has also gone back to shape, or so it seems. In 10 games Real Madrid has scored 20 goals and conceded 11, a goal difference of +9 which is nowhere near what Atleti and Barcelona have right now, mainly due to the lack of goals scored. This lack of goals is easily pointed at Benzema by some, however, Real Madrid is the team in La Liga who shoots the most per game with an average of 20 shots on any given game. The main