After 13 weeks of football in La Liga, Real Madrid are ahead of Barcelona and sit at the top of the table for the first time since Pep Guardiola arrived at their bitter rivals. Jose Mourinho’s team have played some breathtaking football in the first third of the season and are currently on a nine game winning streak, but is this enough to crown them as La Liga champions? Well, last time Madrid were in this position at this stage was in the 2007/08 season, when they ended up winning the league.
Just one game away from the ‘Clásico’, Madrid have been a better side than Barça this year - they have a rather commanding six points lead over the Culés and they also top them in terms of goals scored by 8 (46 to 38). After 13 games Madrid are still averaging over 3 goals per game (3.54) while Barcelona are averaging just under 3 (2.92) after the fiasco at Getafe.
But how important are those numbers at this stage? Since Guardiola arrived, Madrid have not had a six point lead over their rivals, while they have never topped Barcelona on goals scored by this stage. Also, in the last five seasons, only once have the league leaders not gone on to take the title after 13 games - Barcelona in the 2006-07 season. In fact, in the last 10 seasons, only three teams have not held onto a lead after 13 weeks; the other two being Real Sociedad in the 2002/03 season and Deportivo in 2001/02.
Despite the fact that there are still a potential 75 points to be earned, including six in key matches between the two, Real Madrid are definitely as close as they have ever been to putting an end to Barcelona’s current hegemony in La Liga.
Levante, another very impressive side in this first third of the season, still have a lot to do to avoid relegation.
Despite Madrid’s emphatic run, there is no side more content at this stage than Levante. Juan Ignacio Martinez’s team were top of the table in weeks nine and ten, and no other team is as close as them to fulfilling their season’s objective - avoiding relegation.
Levante made their best start in the First Division in their history as they embarked on their best winning streak, winning seven straight games before losing to Osasuna in Pamplona. Only a historical catastrophe will prevent Levante from playing in ‘Primera’ next year.
The race to avoid relegation is perfectly unclear after a third of the season. From twelfth position down to eighteenth, just two points separate seven teams, and even rock bottom Racing are a win away from making it out of the relegation zone. However, it is not just the teams in the bottom half of the table that are in a fight to avoid relegation, as recent history shows. In the last 10 seasons, four teams who were in the top 10 after 13 weeks have been relegated, including Zaragoza who were 9th in the 2007/08 season.
However, one stat that looms over early strugglers is that the team with the most losses by week 13 has been relegated in the last five seasons, bar Málaga last year. The Boquerones saved themselves from the drop despite having lost a league-high of 9 out of 13 matches. Currently, Racing are bottom of the table, though they may have a better chance of saving themselves than Betis, who are 14th but have lost the most games in La Liga, with 8.
Continuing Streaks
One trait that stands out from the first third of the 2011/12 season is the amount of streaks that teams have had this year. Only Rayo and Espanyol haven’t had either a winless or an undefeated streak of at least five games at some point this season. Every other team in La Liga has at some point gone at least five games without a win or five without defeat.
The most impressive streak is undoubtedly Real Madrid’s winning run. Levante started the season with a 9-game undefeated streak, Barcelona did not taste defeat until week 13, Sevilla are still undefeated away from home, Athletic went eight games without defeat and, of course, Betis who, after starting the season by winning the first four games, lost their next six and now have not won in nine. In the worst streaks department, Racing did not win any of their first nine games, Sporting won none of their first seven and Sociedad have only just ended an eight game winless streak.
Of all the many streaks that are cropping up in La Liga, Barcelona will undoubtedly be hoping that it is Real Madrid’s that comes to an end next. If Mourinho’s side can keep it up much longer, they may well soon enough build up an unassailable lead.
