Seven Deadly Stats that sum up Real Madrid's disappointing season

Aditya Devavrat 17:02 02/03/2018
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  • Real Madrid are in the midst of a historically bad season.

    Real Madrid were already making history for all the wrong reasons this season, even before Tuesday night’s shock 1-0 loss to Espanyol.

    But the defeat to the Catalan side emphasised just how poor Los Merengues’ La Liga defence has been, as they’ve lurched from one crisis to another in a woeful season.

    After a historically good season which saw them complete a league-and-European double for the first time in 59 years and become the first side to ever win the Champions League twice in a row, this season will go down in memory for how they’ve gone from all-conquering to easily conquered in less than a year.

    Here are Seven Deadly Stats that sum up Real Madrid’s season.

    FIRST LOSS TO ESPANYOL IN A DECADE

    Espanyol’s last win over Real Madrid came in October 2007. Since then, Madrid had won 19 of the 22 matches between the two sides and drawn the other three, a record of dominance that surpassed even that of Espanyol’s hated local rivals Barcelona, who have gone 17 league games unbeaten in the Catalan derby.

    VILLARREAL’S FIRST WIN AT BERNABEU

    But Tuesday’s result was far from the first time Real Madrid have made unwanted history this season. In fact, it’s barely been a month since a team last achieved a historic win at Madrid’s expense.

    Villarreal hadn’t ever achieved a win at Madrid’s home ground, with 18 previous attempts yielding nothing better than a draw. Then came January and attempt number 19.

    COPA DEL REY HUMILIATION

    A 1-0 first leg away win over Leganes – unexpectedly hard-fought though it may have been – seemed to book Madrid’s spot in the Copa del Rey semifinals. Even when Leganes took a shock lead at the Bernabeu in the return leg, nobody thought they’d pull off a result – even less so when Madrid equalised.

    But this is the season of horrors for Madrid, and Leganes added to it by dumping the grand old side out of Spain’s premier cup competition.

    REAL BETIS 

    If this is Real Madrid’s season of horrors, then Real Betis are the ghost that first spooked them. The Seville side hadn’t won at the Bernabeu in nearly 20 years, and given the way they’ve played this season – most of Betis’ games have been goal-fests – they definitely wouldn’t have been backed to shut Zinedine Zidane’s men out in Madrid.

    But that’s what happened, as the reigning champions’ famous scoring streak came to an end, as did the Andalusian side’s long run of futility at Madrid’s home ground.

    A CLASICO FIRST

    Home losses in El Clasico are nothing new, even if they are the worst thing that can happen to either side. Losing three straight times to your bitterest rivals in front of your home fans, however, is another story altogether. In fact, it’s something that, before December’s 3-0 loss to Barcelona, Real Madrid had never experienced.

    MIND THE GAP

    After the loss to Villarreal, Madrid were 19 points behind Barcelona and in danger of setting another unwanted record: the most they’d ever been behind Barcelona in a 20-team league was 21 points, in 1987-88. Their brief upturn in form at least avoided that mark being broken – although there’s no guarantee it won’t happen; Barcelona could go 17 points clear with a win on Thursday and it isn’t too hard to see Madrid dropping five more points relative to their rivals over the rest of the season.

    CAN’T EVEN BEAT THE PROMOTED SIDES

    Losses to Barcelona are usually the nadir for a Real Madrid team, especially crushing defeats at home, yet, arguably, it’s a different Catalan team which brought up the low point of Los Blancos’ season.

    Girona’s 2-1 win over Madrid was possibly the biggest result in the club’s history, but for the day’s vanquished team, it was another embarrassment of a result. Losing to a promoted side – especially a promoted side who have never played Madrid before – just doesn’t happen.

    It also means Madrid become the first side to lose to three Catalan teams in one La Liga season (Girona, Barcelona, and Espanyol). The Spanish capital has resisted Catalan independence, but its premier football side might be begging for it.

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