Real Madrid suffered a humiliating setback to Valencia over the weekend, taking a significant step away from their prospects of regaining the La Liga crown. The game was possibly the worst football this club has played this season, and they deserved to lose.
After completing the 30th matchweek, only eight games left. The games, in my opinion, are just conventional to play. Real Madrid are well behind in the title race, and rightly so. Throughout the whole La Liga season, the squad did not play any decent football to earn the title for the second consecutive year.
If Los Blancos had won this tie, the hopes would still have been alive in some way. But Barcelona will not give up the lead that easy. The difference is currently four points, and if the distance is maintained or even widened in the following weeks, as a repeat of such performances from Ancelotti's players is not ruled out, a win versus Barcelona in matchweek 35 will not be enough to wrest the championship from the Catalans.
Real Madrid will not win the La Liga now
Real Madrid have no control over the outcome of La Liga, mathematically speaking. The points table is horrible, and I would rather not look at it. Having only 14 points in the past 9 league games is an appalling number that justifies such humiliation over and again.
Even if Barcelona perform exceptionally poorly in their upcoming games and Real Madrid tie them on points, Los Blancos will need at least a 5 goal margin win in the upcoming La Liga clasico to upset Barcelona on head-to-head differential and win the league title.
And given the team's recent performance, particularly against the Catalans, a five-goal victory seems unthinkable at best.
Carlo Ancelotti may desire to quit the club right now. His methods are plainly ineffective, and with a vibrant and youthful manager like Xabi Alonso available, it makes little sense for the club to not hire the Spaniard.
However, this season's dismal league defense appears to have a beneficial aspect. After losing all hope in La Liga, the squad may now focus on the two main competitions in which they are still competing. The Copa Del Rey final remains, but it will be played against arch rivals FC Barcelona, who have hammered Real Madrid on several occasions this season. Ancelotti may wish to take advantage in the first leg of the Champions League contest against Arsenal due to the unfit squad with Mikel Arteta.