The worst version of Real Madrid surfaced in its bastion of Santiago Bernabeu with a draw that allowed Barcelona to dawn in an embrace at the top with its eternal rival of Spanish soccer.
Madrid, October 3 (PL) - The worst version of Real Madrid surfaced in its bastion of Santiago Bernabeu with a draw that allowed Barcelona to dawn in an embrace at the top with its eternal rival of Spanish soccer.
The first pass of the bill for the international break showed Los Merengues more misguided than ever against a hard-working Osasuna, with a lackluster one-goal draw and a penalty miss from France's Karim Benzema.
After six wins in a row in the tournament, Real Madrid's setback is a first warning. And more will come, because the schedule of LaLiga, the Championes and the Copa del Rey, on the threshold of the World Cup in Qatar, will pose more problems.
Affected by the injuries of two pillars of the defense, the Uruguayan Ronald Araujo (operated and out for three months) and the French Jules Koundé, Barcelona solved the duel with Mallorca thanks to a genius of the Polish Robert Lewandowski.
In fact, the azulgranas were off in the second half and received several threats on goal from their opponents who failed to score against the great performance of the German goalkeeper Ter Stegen and the lack of aim.
Barza's 1-0 scoreline was made good by the completion of matchday seven and the arrival of this week's Champions League fixtures, in which the Catalans face the always rocky Inter Milan on Tuesday.
With a much-strengthened squad, especially with the presence of Lewandowski, Barcelona need to beat the Italians at the San Siro after losing to their Black Beast, Bayern Munich, in Group C.
In the group, which is led by Real Madrid, the clash against second-placed Shakhtar of Ukraine, also at the Santiago Bernabeu, will take place at the Santiago Bernabeu.
In any case, the physical strain on the players, many of whom have their sights set on participating in Qatar in November and December, will be an issue not only in Spain, but in all the European leagues.
One team that slipped in the seventh round of the local league was Betis, defeated by Celta Vigo 0-1 in a match in which they deserved better fortune despite losing Brazilian defender Luiz Felipe after 20 minutes due to a red card.
Athletic Bilbao moved up to the third rung of the table, with brothers Nico and Iñaki Williams in top form with two of their team's four goals.
Atletico de Madrid gave a better image to beat the sinking Sevilla 2-0, with a more offensive scheme that changed the defensive tone of the Argentine coach Diego Pablo Simeone.
