Just a few games ago, it was believed that Barcelona already won the Spanish title.
Indeed, they were leading the table with a 8 points lead over Atletico and a 12 points lead over Real Madrid. But with only 1 point in a possible 9, Barcelona has found their lead being cut off to only 3 and 4 points over Atletico and Real Madrid.
The latest defeat has been in the hands of Real Sociedad where Barcelona has always found it hard to win during recent seasons.
Real Madrid’s coachZinedine Zidane had previously already conceded defeat in the title race and suggested that the title was already won by Barcelona. Atletico Madrid’s coach Diego Simeone, on the other hand, has always claimed that they were not in the title race. But the recent run of results from Barcelona has blown the title race wide open, and any of these three teams can still claim to win the title.
This poor run of form has started with the draw against Villareal. In this match, Barcelona was leading 2-0 at some point, and they conceded two goals only to draw the game. After that, it was their poor performance in the Classico where they were beaten 2-1 by Real Madrid on their home ground despite having opened the score.
Many pundits have tried to analyze the recent slump in form from Barcelona, and most of them agree that their front players are not performing as usual. Messi has not scored since four games which by his standard is a poor return. Neymar has also been poor during the recent games. In fairness, all their international players have failed to come back to form after the last international break, and this is evident in the way the team is playing.