Xabi Alonso‘s farewell, at least from the numbers point of view, did not have a strong endorsement as the Spaniard had won 24, drawn four and lost six of his first 34 games in charge, the same record as Flick at Barcelona at this stage of last season.Counting the six Club World Cup matches, the Whites have suffered a first defeat in that competition against PSG (4-0), two in LaLiga (5-2 against Atletico and 0-2 against Celta), two more in the Champions League (1-0 against Liverpool and 1-2 against City) and the Supercopa final yesterday in El Clasico.
Barça, on the other hand, completed its first 34 matches with the win over Alaves on February 2. To begin with, the run in La Liga is considerably better than that of Madrid this year, as at this stage Flick’s side had lost five games, all of them before January, plus three draws, that is to say, they had dropped 21 points in the first 19 games that the club currently has in this competition. Alonso’s side, adding their two defeats and three draws away from home, had dropped 12 points. Barça must be added a sixth defeat in the first Champions League match against Monaco (2-1).
Barca since January as a reference
Real Madrid, now under Arbeloa, can therefore take heart from Barcelona’s example, especially in La Liga. Flick’s side finished as champions thanks to their comeback from January onwards. They lost just one game in the whole of La Liga, against Villarreal at home in the penultimate matchday (2-3), but they were already champions. There was only a draw against Real Betis and the rest were all victories in La Liga.
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