Barca, Madrid Lead in Spain at Winter Break Despite Flaws

Date: 25 December 2019 - 22:09

News ID: ۷۴۳۴۴

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) -- Even though Barcelona and Real Madrid have yet to dominate like in past seasons, the two heavyweights are at the top of the Spanish league for the winter break.
Lionel Messi’s Barcelona will head into 2020 with a two-point advantage over second-place Madrid after completing 18 of 38 rounds.
Barcelona got off to a slow start with only two wins in the first five rounds before newcomer Antoine Griezmann started to click with Messi and Luis Suarez, and the Catalan club ended the year without a loss in seven rounds.
‘’There are times when you win the league by a wide margin and when everyone expects you to wrap it up months in advance that it loses excitement,’’ Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde, who is seeking a third consecutive league crown with the team, said Tuesday.
‘’It is better when you win the league on the last round and by one point.’’
Madrid has only one loss - a 1-0 defeat at Mallorca in October - but it has drawn seven games, including its last three. Its continued scoring problems since Cristiano Ronaldo left two summers ago have left it without a goal in five encounters.