Tuesday 4 March 2014 17:23, UK
And so we have a new leader in La Liga, a team who at one stage had been eight points behind their rivals. Carlo Ancelotti has certainly got his Real Madrid side firing, still unbeaten in 16 league games, including six matches where they've scored four or more.
The implosion has allowed Borussia Dortmund to jump above them - Jurgen Klopp seems to have got his side out of their November and December slump. It's now four wins in five, with Pierre-Emerick Aubemeyang amongst the goals along with Robert Lewandowski and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, but the damage has been done and second is the best they can hope for in the Bundesliga. ITALY Serie A appears a similarly foregone conclusion, with Juventus 11 points clear, despite dropping points at Lazio and Hellas Verona since the turn of the year. Juve haven't exactly been prolific, but they certainly are solid, as a run of four clean sheets would suggest, culminating in a 2-0 win away to AC Milan. But Antonio Conte has a tricky little period coming up where they play fourth-placed Fiorentina three times in the space of four games, starting off with Sunday's lunchtime game and then home and away clashes in the Europa League. The Champions League remains the holy grail for the Old Lady, but with those hopes extinguished for another season, another Scudetto is a near certainty and the continent's second competition is a clear possibility. Napoli too have a tough-looking last-16 tie as they face Porto, but again draws against inferior opposition are hurting them in Serie A. Genoa at home and Livorno away would normally yield six points, four minimum, but instead Rafa Benitez has had to settle for two. Their next game is against Roma, the sole meaningful chasers in the title race who have no cup competitions as distractions. But Rudy Garcia's team have had their momentum checked since their last league defeat in early January by dropping points in their tougher games: 1-1 in the Rome derby at Lazio, and then the same scoreline at home to Inter Milan last time out. Garcia may be running out of tricks at a crucial point in the season. FRANCE PSG are on course to win a second consecutive Ligue 1 title ahead of time - their advantage is eight points over Monaco, with whom they drew in the principality almost a month ago. Since then, Laurent Blanc has enjoyed four straight victories, scoring 13, two of which came in 'Le Classique' against Marseille. Zlatan Ibrahimovic now has 37 goals to his name this season, and he continued to thrill with yet another hat-trick at Toulouse, his fourth this campaign (or five if you count Sweden's 4-2 win over Norway in August). They are looking indestructible, and even the real European heavyweights will be wanting to avoid them in the Champions League quarter-finals. Monaco now have a new mercurial man in Dimitar Berbatov, who scored in the extra-time victory over Nice in the Coupe de France, but in truth they lack a cutting edge up front without Radamel Falcao. The Colombian is still optimistic of making the World Cup this summer after a knee operation, but the Monegasques probably won't see him in any meaningful form before the title race is over. The 2-0 defeat at Saint-Etienne last weekend won't have helped Claudio Ranieri's cause either, but then the Stade Geoffroy Guichard is one of the tougher, truly atmospheric and intimidating venues to go to, and Christophe Galtier's side are unbeaten in seven there, winning six. Saint Etienne's resurgence has put pressure on Lille in the final Champions League spot, with Marseille and Lyon making up the top six, and while Montpellier have battled their way out of trouble with a nine-match unbeaten run in the league, Nice and Nantes suffered a February funk. Both sides are still nine points above the relegation zone, but it would be a shock to see the seven-time champions from the Loire drop down the season after they came up. So whilst Germany, Italy and France are getting ready to crown champions-elect, there's still plenty to play for in La Liga - they and the Premier League are relishing the most competitive title battles in years, and the next few games could provide some pivotal moments.
