The La Liga biggies, namely, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid have sunk in to an early dip in form. And, neither of the teams could pick an advantage of their rivals’ poor show, the league remains tightly packed.  The teams from Madrid packed at 15 points each from their opening seven fixtures have managed to scratch out a point in each of their matches. Hence, maintaining a zero loss status. While, Barcelona has been through the ups and downs, and even suffering losses twice in the La Liga so far.

Barcelona

It is perhaps right to say that Barcelona without their anchor and leader in attack Messi, face constant difficulty in scoring enough goals to out-past their opponents. The same can be seen in the games that Messi did not start, for instance against La Liga newboys Alaves. Though, the Argentine came on as a sub at the hour mark, but that did not change the scheme of thing in the game.

The other game where the damage was clearly visible is during their most recent loss against Celta Vigo. It was the first in a long time when Barcelona went 3-0 down at half time. However, a strong comeback was attempted but Celta Vigo ensured to come away with all three points from the game.

These performances leave the Blaugrana manager Luis Enrique to come up with major changes in the way the team has played. The international break might have just came at the right time to rescue him, and even more so as Messi is scheduled to return to full fitness prior to their next fixture.

Real Madrid

Barcelona fans have talked about how Real have been unable to secure all three points in their last three La Liga fixtures. But, it was the Los Blancos who came out with the last laugh maintaining their loss-less record in the international break.

The draw at Barnabeu sounds no less than a loss for Zidane and his team, first against Villareal and the other more recently against Eibar. This signals to the need of re-grouping for the Champions League holders during the international break and take their opportunity to go clear of rivals in the league.

However, Real have otherwise been quite consistent, winning four in a row at the start and now coming out with a point in the following three. The consistency of the former is what the manager would seek once play resumes after the international break.

Atletico Madrid

Atletico like Real have maintained a loss-less record but not without some struggles of their own. They have looked very comfortable in most of their games, keeping clean sheets and winning with major goal margins. However, they have also struggled a bit when playing away from home. A draw against Barcelona at Camp Nou might be considered a pretty decent result. But the same cannot be said about a goal-less draw at Leganes.

Simeone too, like Enrique and Zidane will have to pick his players as the game intensifies after the international break.  

Intense La Liga action awaits post international break

While the fight for top spot begins to intensify between the three teams, Sevilla has covered grounds and quietly sealing a spot around the top. Sevilla has not had the best of performances, they haven’t event scored big margin goals or been the best defence in the league. They have simply played to ensure three points from their fixture. This currently puts them in third spot ahead of Barcelona.

The difference between the top five teams in the League makes it a much more interesting one to keep an eye-out for. Just two points separates the top five teams in La Liga. Whether the gap widens further or it gets even more close remains to be seen once the players return from their respective national duties.

Image Courtesy: Telegraph