So if Real Madrid wins next Wednesday they will be 14 points behind us. Atletico is still a much bigger threat.
We should lose on purpose against Atletico, then do our best to win the next El Classico, if Atletico can keep up.
Nah, just kidding
RM will be 3rd in La Liga in the end... The most important thing is anyone to stop them in CL !
Atletico is doing good, but let's not forget that their next five visits in La Liga are against Sevilla, us, Real Madrid, Villarreal and Real Sociedad + a tough home game against Celta between these matches ... I can easily see them slipping (meaning not winning) in at least three of these fixtures. It looks like they also take the Europa League seriously, so I just cannot see them keeping the tempo for much longer.
As I see it, if we manage to eliminate Chelsea and in the same time being able to collect at least ten points in the four La Liga matches between the two legs (Girona, Las Palmas, Atletico and Malaga), we could easily be at least 10+ points (with Atleti still having to play away at Villarreal, Real Madrid and Real Sociedad) before our eventual quarterfinal tie in the Champions League. And if this happens, then the rotations could become higher and more often in La Liga.
Atletico is doing good, but let's not forget that their next five visits in La Liga are against Sevilla, us, Real Madrid, Villarreal and Real Sociedad + a tough home game against Celta between these matches ... I can easily see them slipping (meaning not winning) in at least three of these fixtures. It looks like they also take the Europa League seriously, so I just cannot see them keeping the tempo for much longer.
As I see it, if we manage to eliminate Chelsea and in the same time being able to collect at least ten points in the four La Liga matches between the two legs (Girona, Las Palmas, Atletico and Malaga), we could easily be at least 10+ points (with Atleti still having to play away at Villarreal, Real Madrid and Real Sociedad) before our eventual quarterfinal tie in the Champions League. And if this happens, then the rotations could become higher and more often in La Liga.
Valverde's rotations have been shocking.
Chelsea away three days after Eibar away and start INiesta ahead of Coutinho and Roberto ahead of Semedo when Semedo and Coutinho can't play Tuesday.
One thing I am certain about is that Valverde, the coaching staff and the players on their own know much better than me what is the player's fitness level, energy and condition and therefore I don't think to be getting into all these rotation problems that are just unstoppable here. Also, in the last three games Iniesta had played around 150 minutes, which is less than two games in fifteen days, I mean he is a professional footballer and not some 50 years old retired player. Also, do you think that if Iniesta on his own feels that the 60 minutes against Eibar will cost him against Chelsea on Tuesday he won't say anything to Valverde, or Valverde and the coaching staff would still play him even when they notice he is tired and needs a break, I mean, all these stuff are without a doubt discussed and way more calculated from these guys then from us, where we are seeing only 90 minutes of all trainings and surroundings before and after the games.
Regarding Semedo, the only thing I can think of is that Valverde is just not happy with how he does in training and not being able to do what the manager asks from him. He clearly needs match practice, but maybe first he needs to show Valverde his improvement outside of the official games we are seeing.
We are leaders with big advantage in La Liga, we are in the Copa del Rey final, we qualified for the eliminations in the Champions League winning our group and undefeated, the game against Chelsea had not started yet and almost everyone is spiting on Valverde, maybe just to say "I told you so" if we lose. Give the guy the credit he deserves and have some trust in him, I think that so far he has exceeded all our expectations and deserves it.
They can't be stopped. Accept it.
Valverde's rotations have been shocking.
Chelsea away three days after Eibar away and start INiesta ahead of Coutinho and Roberto ahead of Semedo when Semedo and Coutinho can't play Tuesday.
Give the guy the credit he deserves and have some trust in him, I think that so far he has exceeded all our expectations and deserves it.
We should lose on purpose against Atletico, then do our best to win the next El Classico, if Atletico can keep up.
Nah, just kidding
If Atletico have even a tiny bit of shame it should be them who would lose the Madrid derby on purpose