Mark the date in your diary. December 16. The day Jose Mourinho all but conceded that Real Madrid’s title hopes are over – after just 16 games.
Madrid’s 2-2 draw against lowly Espanyol at the Bernabeu coupled with Barcelona’s 4-1 hammering of second-placed Atletico Madrid – their 15th win in 16 league outings – means Los Blancos trail their bitter rivals by 13 points in the table.
With Lionel Messi taking his goals tally in 2012 to 90 with another brace and Barca showing no signs of slowing down as they attempt to wrest the Liga title from Madrid’s grip, Mourinho admits the task is an insurmountable one for his side.
“The league is now impossible,” said Mourinho. “It is the first time that I have been in a situation like this where my team are a long way off their objectives.
“Thirteen points is too big a gap to overcome but what we have to do is go out and play each game. We shouldn’t be thinking about who is first, second or third. We have to be stronger.”
Conceding Madrid’s chances of reatining their title are virtually over before the midway point in the campaign is a humiliating climbdown for Mourinho.
“I don’t want to make a drama out of it, I will treat it as another stage of my life. I have never dropped so many points before but we will try and finish the season as well as possible and fight for the titles which are available.”
On Sunday, Cristiano Ronaldo equalised for defending champions Madrid on the stroke of half-time after Sergio Garcia had put joint-bottom Espanyol ahead on the half hour mark.
Two minutes after the restart, Fabio Coentrao put Real in front but it was not enough as Juan Albin slotted home from close range two minutes from the end.
“Cristiano played well but his teammates didn’t,” said Mourinho afterwards. “The attitude has been good and what we need is a bit of calm and luck. For the effort of the players we deserved to win but we wasted clear cut chances.
“Each of us has to pick ourselves up now. It is what you have to do as professionals to keep going even though you aren’t happy, you aren’t enjoying it and you aren’t chasing the objectives that you set out to achieve.”
The pressure is now firmly on Mourinho at the helm of the club and it has been reported in the Spanish press that his criticism of players has created a rift in the dressing room.
“There is always talk like this but it doesn’t influence in anyway. The team is fine as always, although we don’t show the same happiness if we aren’t winning. On another day we would have had three or four goals (against Espanyol).”
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