Real Madrid showed why they will win LaLiga, Barcelona showed why they won't

Big difference in late comebacks

Posted Wednesday, March 01, 2017 by Marca.com

Last weekend felt like a watershed moment in the 2016/17 LaLiga title race; the kind of landmark that will be looked back upon as profoundly meaningful once all has been said and done. Barcelona, Real Madrid and Sevilla all faced tricky tests, and in all three cases resilience saw them through.

Real Madrid came from two goals down against the best defence in LaLiga to beat Villarreal 3-2, with Lionel Messi scoring a late winner earlier in the day for Barcelona against Atletico Madrid. Sevilla also showed their mettle by overcoming derby rivals Real Betis 2-1 at the Estadio Benito Villamarin. But not all resilience is equal.

Take Barcelona's win at the Estadio Vicente Calderon, for instance, where Luis Enrique's side recorded a second straight 2-1 win to temporarily move ahead of Real in the league table. On the face of things, the Catalans have recovered to an extent following the 4-0 Champions League humiliation in Paris two weeks ago.

But in the two games they have played, against Atletico and Leganes, Lionel Messi has dug his teammates out, scoring late winners in both. Barcelona as a team have not recovered from their Parisian embarrassment, with huge deficiencies still to be found in midfield and particularly at the back. Not for the first time, Messi is masking the Catalan's true condition.

The resilience of Messi is in no doubt, but for how much longer can he continue to sustain his team's title chances? Barcelona have always revolved around the Argentine, but never before have they so dependant on him. Without Messi in top form, Enrique would be in a much deeper hole than he already finds himself in.

Contrast this to Real Madrid and the resilience they demonstrated in Sunday's 3-2 win at the Estadio de la Ceramica, coming from 2-0 down with under half an hour to play to claim all three points by the time the final whistle sounded. Zinedine Zidane's side also demonstrated a mental toughness, but their resilience was a product of the team as a whole rather than any one individual.

Sure, Cristiano Ronaldo found the net, converting a controversial penalty kick, but the Ballon d'Or holder merely contributed to the comeback rather than pulling it off all on his own. He played his part, but Real aren't reliant on him in the same way Barcelona are on Messi.

Gareth Bale got the comeback off the ground, after all, heading home a cross to half the deficit. Then there was Ronaldo's equaliser from the spot before Alvaro Morata came off the bench to net the winner.

From front to back, from full-backs Marcelo and Dani Carvajal peppering the opposition penalty area with cross, to Isco providing fresh drive and dynamism through the middle as a substitute, Real Madrid's recovery was a collective effort.

This is why they, and not the Blaugrana, will win the league title this season. Real have their flaws, with many of them exposed since the end of their 40-game unbeaten run last month, but their faults aren't fundamental like they are at the Camp Nou. Messi is good enough to carry Barcelona, but not all the way to a championship.

Sooner or later their troubles will bubble to the surface once more, like they did at the Parc des Princes against Paris Saint-Germain. Under Enrique they have lost their identity as a team with major structural work needed to restore the Catalan club to their former glory. There is no number of late Messi winners that can compensate for this.

Resilience saw Barcelona and Real over the line last weekend, but in very different ways. Messi might well have the beating of Ronaldo right now, even if Ronaldo has the Ballon d'Or to show for his supremacy. Yet it's for this reason that Real Madrid will come out on top in the title race.