Real Madrid's Spanish League title hopes were dealt a huge blow on Wednesday when the team was defeated 2-1 at Sevilla. Meanwhile Barcelona managed a 3-0 win over Celta Vigo while Atletico Madrid walked away with a 1-0 win over Granada.
Madrid now sits in third place in the league with 70 points while Barcelona has 72 points and Atletico has 73. The loss completes a humbling for Los Blancos who were on top of the world as recently as Sunday prior to their match with Madrid.
The big question on everyone's mind right now is whether this team can still win the title? Prior to the two defeats, Madrid had gone 31 games without a loss. Now the team has lost two straight and looks vulnerable again, but a few issues stand out tremendously.
For most of the year Diego Lopez has been terrific for this team. But he has been unable to come away with the big saves in the big matches. He let in a couple of howlers in against Atletico Madrid in a 2-2 draw a few weeks ago. Despite not being at fault for any goals against Barcelona in the 4-3 loss, he also did not make any major saves. In the first game against Barcelona, he made a huge mistake on both goals. The first goal by Neymar in that match was stoppable while the second goal by Alexis Sanchez was the result of his hesitating when coming out to cut off the angle. In Wednesday's game, he challenged on both goals, but the ball was fired through his legs on the second. It might be time for Iker Casillas to get some time in net.
The defense was beaten twice on a counterattack. Both goals were the result of Carlos Bacca simply outrunning Madrid's defense. Pepe was the culprit on the second goal as he left the striker wide open to make his run behind Raphael Varane. Dani Carvajal was caught flatfooted on the first goal with Pepe nowhere near his spot near the goal to help protect his team.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a beautiful free-kick goal to preserve his lead as the top scorer in the league, but there are concerns over his form. He missed a lot of other opportunities but also disappeared for long stretches of the match. To claim that he has lost passion is probably wrong, but Ronaldo has not exhibited the same dynamism in recent matches. His last two goals, both in big matches, have not come from open play; this is a major cause for concern for the side.
Both goals against Madrid were on counterattacks and it is easy to start questioning Carlo Ancelotti's tactics. His team is great with possession and has speed upfront, but it seemingly commits to far up the pitch and is unprepared to deal with counterattacks. This was also evident on Barcelona's first goal on Sunday and the play that led to Sergio Ramos' red card and the third Barcelona goal.
What is wrong with Real Madrid?