17.05.2007 10:09
The closest title race in years
Berta Brau
There hasn’t been a tie at the top of the league table with just four match days to go since the 1992-93 season. The title race is neck and neck with four teams all in with a realistic chance of finishing top.
It would be a brave person who would predict the winner of this year’s La Liga with any
degree of certainty. No fewer than four teams are still in with a real chance of taking the title
and there’s a tie on points between first and second. That hasn’t happened since Real
Madrid and Barça were tied on 52 points at this exact stage of the season in 1993. Oh, and by the
way, FC Barcelona went on to win the league!
At the moment, both Barça and Real Madrid have 66
points while Sevilla and Valencia have 64 and 62 respectively. The situation is a far cry from that
of recent seasons, when the title has been practically decided by this stage. Last year, Barça had
an eight-point lead after 34 games, while the season before they led by six points.
Closer than ever
Except for the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons, when three teams (Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and
Deportivo) were all in with a fighting chance with four matches to go, this is the closest title
race of the last ten years.
And while it was a three-horse race in those two seasons, this year there are four teams
involved in the scrap. With just four points separating those four sides, it’s clear that
this season is the most hotly contested for a long time.
Now what?
The situation could get even tenser if Barça and Real Madrid both draw at the weekend
(against Atlético Madrid and Recreativo respectively) and Sevilla beat Deportivo. This would
produce a three-way tie on points at the top of the table, with the teams only separated by the
head-to-head goal difference – which, by the way, is favourable to Real Madrid in both cases.
Coming up
Barça have two remaining away games – against Atlético Madrid and Nàstic – and two home
games – against Getafe, the side that knocked us out of the Cup, and losing UEFA Cup
finalists Espanyol. Real Madrid, meanwhile, are away to Recreativo and Zaragoza, fifth and seventh
respectively in the league table, and at home to Mallorca and Deportivo.