This afternoon, Real Madrid sang their praises with four games left by adding their victory at the Bernabéu against Cádiz to Barcelona’s defeat at Montilivi. This is the 36th League that the whites have won, a championship that they have dominated from start to finish and that was practically decided since they won the classic on April 21.
For Real Madrid to regain the throne of the League, and even more so with such ease, it has been quite a surprise in a year that was expected to be a transition because the season began without its best player, Karim Benzema (to the astonishment of the club that expected him to renew , the Frenchman accepted a mega-offer from the Arab League), and with two cruciate ligament tears in the first weeks that affected two of the team’s pillars: Thibaut Courtois and Eder Militao. As if that were not enough, he soon suffered a third cruciate break, also in the defense, that of David Alaba.
However, Madrid immediately made use of its well-known resilience and began to add victories supported by the undisputed player of the League: Jude Bellingham. Despite the fact that English footballers find it difficult to adapt to the Spanish league, the young English player, who turned twenty in the summer, took charge of the team and also stood out for his scoring streak, scoring 18 goals in the League with the that marked Cádiz today.
Fundamental to the Englishman’s performance was the plan that Ancelotti designed for him, which changed the team’s formation from a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2 in which Bellingham occupied the top part of the diamond, ready to connect with Vinícius and Rodrygo. Joselu, on loan from Espanyol, also contributed his share of goals. The other player of the season has been Vinícius, always with all the noise that accompanies him, but decisive when his team needed him most. Other differential players have been Lunin, who ended up taking Kepa’s starting position; Brahim Diaz, the ideal number twelve player and Rüdiger, who emerged as a colossus in defense.
Madrid’s good season is demonstrated by the fact that they have lost only one game in the entire League, in the Metropolitano against Atlético (3-1) (and one more in the entire season, also against the colchoneros, but in the Cup) .
In this League, Madrid has two major controversies: especially the 3-2 win over Almería at the Bernabéu on January 21, with gross refereeing errors in favor of Madrid; The second is the ghost goal not awarded to Lamine Yamal in the last classic.
Madrid can argue that it also suffered a major controversy, the disallowed goal against Bellingham at Mestalla that would have meant victory against Valencia, a play that was disallowed while the ball was in the air. The Englishman’s protests cost him a two-match ban.
For the whites, victory in the League today is the best boost of morale ahead of Wednesday’s match at the Bernabéu, the semi-final against Bayern that could open the Champions League final at Wembley on June 1, the dream of the fifteen that It would round off a perfect season.
