Would you be happy with status quo?

[serghei]

I also agree that our midfield managed to hold their own against Madrid, but that wasn't their own doing but Madrid's. Our midfield played like it normally does these days (shit) and Madrid's midfield managed to shit the bed and stoop down to our level both times we played them, but hey that's why Clasicos are so entertaining, it's a shitshow where anything can happen on the night.

Madrid is one of the only teams that play somewhat open against us and when you do that you're just inviting MSN to feat on your defence. Since these Clasicos are usually very open compared to the defensive structures we and Madrid usually face, the match turns into a battle between the forward lines, a department in which we clearly reign supreme.

Not true. We played our derbies in La Liga with a higher ambition than what we showed against the smaller teams. That's the only explanation that makes sense. The stats say that we lost the title because of points we wasted against the smaller teams. So, unless you believe our midfield was good enough to beat Madrid, Atletico, Sevilla, Bilbao, Villareal and the other very good teams in La Liga, but somehow wasn't good enough to beat the small teams, then it's pretty clear we didn't have a problem of quality, but a managerial issue.