Barcelona’s La Liga match against Valencia at home seemed to give people a very tragic feeling last Monday.
Defending La Liga champions Barcelona knew from the start that they needed a win to preserve their slim hopes of competing for the league title, or at least delay Real Madrid’s chances of locking the league title as long as possible.
The home game against Valencia is also Barcelona’s first game since it was confirmed that Xavi will continue as head coach next season. That’s a good thing.
Nevertheless, during the extensive renovation of the Camp Nou stadium, the 30,167 spectators at Camp Nou were their lowest ever at their temporary home this season while the Camp Nou stadium undergoes extensive renovations. Although heavy rain was one of the objective factors that caused the situation, Barcelona fans seem to have been hit hard after a difficult few weeks – including the Champions League loss to PSG and the La Liga defeat at the Bernabeu. A double whammy.
The home fans who attended the game were fortunate enough to witness Barcelona’s dramatic 4-2 victory over Valencia with a younger lineup at home. Even though Barcelona have almost secured qualification for next season’s Champions League, they don’t seem to have the performance to match.
Real Madrid seems to have been preparing for the upcoming league title. Carlo Ancelotti’s side edged Real Sociedad 1-0 on Friday night and moved one step closer to the La Liga title. Even if Ancelotti makes extensive rotations in the lineup before facing Bayern in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals away from home, Real Madrid’s 6-game winning streak in La Liga is almost a certainty.
Real Madrid fans’ expectations and optimism for the La Liga title appear to have reached a fever pitch. Their stadium has undergone a €1bn (£860m; $1.1 billion) after a lengthy renovation process, it has been possible to welcome Real Madrid fans to the new, more beautiful and modern stadium to cheer on their home team.
Brazilian wunderkind Henrik Ndrique is certain to arrive at the Bernabeu this summer – the 18-year-old’s goals at Wembley and the Bernabeu during the national team friendlies in March have left Real Madrid looking forward to his future.
As a result, Real Madrid should be even stronger in La Liga next season with their first-choice center back pairing of Thibaut Courtois and Ancelotti having both missed the majority of the season in Militao and Alaba. Under such circumstances, they can still easily achieve their goal of winning the La Liga championship. If you are interested in real madrid kit 2024/25, you can find out more by clicking here.