In La Liga, the league is typically so close that the Clasico between Madrid and Barcelona can actually decide the outcome of the La Liga title. However, Madrid are already five points behind Barcelona and a victory in the next Clasico would only bring them to two points behind the Catalan giants. Factor in that their cross-town rivals Atletico Madrid are also five points ahead of Los Blancos, and this might actually ALREADY spell La Liga failure for Madrid.
La Liga has been so top heavy over the past few seasons that the top clubs always accrue a massive amount of points. Because of that, the big clubs must take a maximum number of points from all of the “smaller” clubs and they must be in a position where they can drop points against their bigger rivals. As previously stated, El Clasico has decided many of the last few La Liga titles in the past few seasons because of this, but if Madrid drop any more points and Barcelona/Atletico continue to roll, it will not matter if Madrid best Barcelona twice or if they win against Atletico next time.
Madrid are suffering from the expectations that massive amounts of money bring to your club. With the two most expensive transfers of all time currently in your starting eleven, Spain’s #1 on your bench, and most of the starting eleven coming from high-profile transfers and not from home-grown talent, Madrid must live up to the highest standard of any team in La Liga (possibly, in all of Europe). Hopefully Bale can live up to most of his transfer fee (it will be impossible for him to truly justify his total price-tag) and hopefully Benzema can show that Madrid made the right choice in selling Higuain and keeping the Frenchman.
The bigger picture for Madrid would be what another season of failures would bring to the club. Ancelotti is, arguably, one of the biggest managers in all of world football with one of the best looking records for the last decade. However, a bad season with Madrid may not afford him a second chance with the club. Will it stop the big-name players from going there or the money from flowing? Doubtful. Madrid will always be a massive destination for any player and the money seems limitless from Madrid. Unlike teams like Liverpool, Inter, and clubs that were once great but have since fallen from grace, Madrid will always be able to interest the stars of the world.
If the La Liga season follows the pattern of the last few seasons, these five points could prove to be massive. Another season without bringing a major trophy in could be the biggest story in European football, so they will definitely need to kick things into gear and hope that their two main competitors falter as soon as possible. Keep an eye on the Madrid camp, as this season could become a massive breaking point for the big spenders…of course, it could just mean that they will spend more money…(ah…who doesn’t love modern football ideology?).
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