The Real Champs
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Madrid Derby: Where do things stand for Real Madrid

By Sachin Bhat

PARIS, FRANCE - MARCH 6: Players of Real Madrid during the minute of silence in tribute to Davide Astori of Fiorentina who passed away last week end prior to the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 Second Leg match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Real Madrid at Parc des Princes stadium on March 6, 2018 in Paris, France. (Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE - MARCH 6: Players of Real Madrid during the minute of silence in tribute to Davide Astori of Fiorentina who passed away last week end prior to the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 Second Leg match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Real Madrid at Parc des Princes stadium on March 6, 2018 in Paris, France. (Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images) /
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Following their successful conquest of Turin in the Champions League, Real Madrid now turn their attention towards the derby against Atletico Madrid with only bragging rights at stake.

PARIS, FRANCE – MARCH 6: Players of Real Madrid during the minute of silence in tribute to Davide Astori of Fiorentina who passed away last week end prior to the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 Second Leg match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Real Madrid at Parc des Princes stadium on March 6, 2018 in Paris, France. (Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE – MARCH 6: Players of Real Madrid during the minute of silence in tribute to Davide Astori of Fiorentina who passed away last week end prior to the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 Second Leg match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Real Madrid at Parc des Princes stadium on March 6, 2018 in Paris, France. (Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images) /

There’s an aura of indomitably engulfing the Real Madrid camp at the moment. Especially after what we witnessed during the mid-week. A series of big wins since the turn of March culminated with an emphatic 3-0 shellacking of the mighty Juventus, iced by a Cristiano Ronaldo golazo.

A sixth victory on the trot and another semifinal berth in the Champions League is all but secured.

Los Blancos are looking more like the team that successfully retained its European crown last year, shrugging off the struggles of the first half of the campaign.

But on the domestic front, there’s isn’t really much to fight for. The prospects remain as grim as they were at the start despite Real’s best efforts.

Trailing runaway leaders FC Barcelona by 13 points, all the shambles of the first few games in the season are now coming home to roost. The incredible run of 10 victories in the last 12 games has managed to soothe the frayed nerves of the club and the fans alike, that hasn’t altered the course of the race.

And, as far as Real Madrid is concerned, the title defense has long been squashed. With only eight games left, the gap seems too great. Pride is all that’s left to play for, and it begins with a win over rivals Atletico.

Four points ahead in the standings and coming off the back of an encouraging 2-0 win over Sporting Lisbon, the Rojiblancos are on the up and up. They too are favorites for continental glory – the Europa League – and have experienced an upturn in form in the recent weeks with 12 wins in the last 14 games.

However, in the two games they failed to win, Atletico ended up on the losing side as Barcelona and Villarreal hampered their title push.

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