Barcelona are running Real Madrid out of games.
With Tuesday’s emphatic win at home to Getafe the Catalan giants are five points clear of the Champions League holders, who must beat Almeria on Wednesday to close the gap to two—which is what it was coming out of the weekend.
But there are just four rounds remaining in La Liga, and Madrid travel to Sevilla on Saturday. Barcelona will face Cordoba. The same two points may separate the Clasico rivals when the final whistle blows at Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan (and that is the best-case scenario for Los Blancos), although by then only three matches will be left.
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Time, that most useful of allies, is sporting blaugrana colours—just as the trophies may be at season’s end.
All the trophies.
As incredible as it seems, especially given the difficulties of January, Barcelona continue to fight on three fronts going into May. They’re atop the Primera Division; they’ll contest the Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao; they’re into the semifinals of the Champions League.
The treble is very much on, and if it’s achieved for just a second time in Spanish football history it will come as one of the great surprises in the annals of the only club to do it.
After all, it was less than four months ago that a 1-0 defeat at Real Sociedad seemed to derail the campaign and mark the end of manager Luis Enrique’s brief and disappointing tenure.
Coming out of the Christmas break the 44-year-old had opted to rest forwards Neymar and Lionel Messi, and after the introductions of both failed to produce even a draw he was forced onto the defensive when asked about their omissions, saying, “This isn’t the time to regret those decisions.”
Already unpopular after a November defeat at home to Celta Vigo saw his side surrender top spot in the standings, Enrique’s future at Camp Nou ended up being pinned to a showdown with champions Atletico Madrid the week after the Anoeta disaster.
Club president Josep Maria Bartomeu had reportedly gone so far as to promise Messi—who had missed training the morning after returning from San Sebastian—Enrique’s head on a platter, and as sporting director Andoni Zubizaretta got the chop it seemed a matter of days before the axe inevitably fell on the former midfielder.
How long ago it all now seems.
Barcelona, thanks to goals from Neymar, Luis Suarez and the supposedly unhappy Messi, picked up a 3-1 win over Atletico on January 11, and they wouldn’t lose another match until February 21. Two weeks later they were top of the league, and they’ve dropped just two points since.
Messi, as it happens, has been central to the turnaround—his 2015 form not only easily eclipsing that of last season but also hearkening back to his dominance of 2008-09, when Barcelona did the treble under then-manager Pep Guardiola.
And it’s Guardiola, now in charge of Bayern Munich, who could prevent the club repeating the feat. Bayern will visit Camp Nou in the first installment of a two-legged tie next Wednesday, and victory for the Bundesliga outfit would ensure the three-time Champions League winner (once as a player) would preserve his cult status in the Catalan capital.
Nevermind that Enrique’s treble, should he attain it, would be eminently more impressive than his famous forebear’s.
Unlike Guardiola, the current Barcelona manager cannot rely on the otherworldly passing abilities of Xavi Hernandez game in, game out. And Andres Iniesta—the UEFA Best Player in Europe for 2012—is nearly 31-years-old and well past his prime. Even Dani Alves, who so often provided reliable supply to Messi in previous teams, is decidedly on the down slope of his career.
From such conundrums came Enrique’s troubles between November and February. To his credit, however, he bolted things down defensively (thus the ballooning importance of Sergio Busquets), platooned Xavi and Iniesta on an alternating basis and rode the attacking talents of Messi, Neymar and Suarez—often using Messi on the right-hand side.
If his approach appeared spontaneous, even experimental, at times, it’s because it was. But it has since been borne out. And that he has suppressed his ego to pacify Messi and Neymar (who hasn’t been substituted since throwing a fit at Sevilla) in succession merely suggests he understands the vanity of modern footballers and will abide it so long as the wins keep coming.
They might not stop coming between now and June. And Enrique, who for a time just barely clung to his position, might suddenly find himself elevated to a status currently enjoyed by Guardiola alone.
He’s running out games to fail.
Jerrad Peters is a Winnipeg-based writer. Follow him on Twitter