Real, Barca face off in title battle
In La Liga's round 31, giants Real Madrid and Barcelona in a match that could well decide the destination of the title.
La Liga uses head-to-head to determine table placings in the event of a points tie and in their first match earlier in the season Barca won 1-nil.
Real will need to win this tie to get even on head-to-head should the two teams finish on the same number of points at the end of the season.
Real and Barca are so much ahead of the other teams with third placed Valencia on 56 points and 21 points behind and therefore the two teams have virtually secured the top two places.
In the last round Real won 2-nil away to Racing Santander and that was the first time since January for the team to fail to score three goals or more in a league match.
Barca has the best defence in the league at the moment having conceded just 19 goals.
This showdown sees the team with the best home form play the team with the best away form.
Here are some of the some of the stats for the two teams so far this season:
| Real Madrid | Barcelona | |
|---|---|---|
| Played | 30 | 30 |
| Points | 77 | 77 |
| Drawn | 2 | 5 |
| Won | 25 | 24 |
| Lost | 3 | 1 |
| Goal difference | 57 | 56 |
| Clean sheets | 14 | 16 |
| Failed to score | 4 | 1 |
| Goals scored | 83 | 75 |
| Goals conceded | 26 | 19 |
| Ave. goals scored | 2.8 | 2.5 |
| Ave. goals conceded | 0.9 | 0.6 |
| Biggest win | Real Madrid 6 - 0 Zaragoza | Barcelona 6 - 1 Zaragoza Tenerife 0 - 5 Barcelona |
| Biggest loss | Sevilla 2 - 1 Real Madrid Barcelona 1 - 0 Real Madrid Athletic Bilbao 1 - 0 Real Madrid | Atletico 2 - 1 Barcelona |
| Score 3 or more | 19 | 13 |
| Concede 3 or more | 0 | 0 |
| Home matches | ||
| Played | 15 | 15 |
| Points | 45 | 43 |
| Drawn | 0 | 1 |
| Won | 15 | 14 |
| Lost | 0 | 0 |
| Goal difference | 37 | 34 |
| Goals scored | 50 | 43 |
| Goals conceded | 13 | 9 |
| Ave. goals scored | 3.3 | 2.9 |
| Ave. goals conceded | 0.9 | 0.6 |
| Away matches | ||
| Played | 15 | 15 |
| Points | 32 | 34 |
| Drawn | 2 | 4 |
| Won | 10 | 10 |
| Lost | 3 | 1 |
| Goal difference | 20 | 22 |
| Goals scored | 33 | 32 |
| Goals conceded | 13 | 10 |
| Ave. goals scored | 2.2 | 2.1 |
| Ave. goals conceded | 0.9 | 0.7 |
I think this is the only match that matters for these two teams. They are so far ahead of the other teams and apart from a few teams like Valencia, Sevilla and Atletico all the other teams look like they come from a lower division when they play these two.
That's why week in week out you see Real Madrid and Barcelona scoring 3, 4 or 5 goals each match.
I think this two horse race may not be good for La Liga because its reducing key matches to just two in a way.
reply
Yes King, La Liga has been essentially a two horse race this season with Real and Barca so dominant. For example, Real has scored 50 goals at home and this is more than what third placed Valencia has scored in all its matches. I also don't think that the two horse is good for La Liga but I hope that next season more teams will challenge these two teams.
