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Real Madrid could suffer title choke after El Clasico rout - and these stats prove it

Real Madrid endured one of their most disappointing El Clasico defeats in years, but with a sizable points advantage over Barcelona, surely, they can’t throw away the title. Right?

Real Madrid's 4-0 El Clasico defeat will go down as one of the most shocking results of the season - not only in Spain, but across the world of football. 

Los Blancos entered the weekend on the back of a five-match winning run, including a heroic victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Even with the absence of Karim Benzema, who is suffering a muscle injury, Carlo Ancelotti's machine seemed unstoppable as the El Clasico got underway at Santiago Bernabeu.

However, instead of living up to the billing, Real Madrid folded in front of their own fans as Barcelona bagged four goals in 50 minutes to seal a historic victory, including two from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

This result felt like a major turning point for the Catalan giants, with many touting them as a serious title contender next season.

However, why wait till next season, when the current one is far from over.

Is Real Madrid's title choke a pipe dream, or a realistic possibility?

Barcelona's emphatic win at Santiago Bernabeu not only moved them into third place, but it also narrowed the gap to Real Madrid to 12 points. Xavi's men also have one game in hand, which is against out-of-form Rayo Vallecano.

A win in that game would narrow the distance to just nine points - or three league victories. With that in mind, are the chances of a Real Madrid slip-up realistic, or is this plainly fantasy talk?

Real Madrid's last nine games: Celta Vigo (A), Getafe (H), Sevilla (A), Osasuna (A), Espanyol (H), Atletico Madrid (A), Levante (H), Cadiz (A), Real Betis (H).
Barcelona's last 10 games: Sevilla (H), Levante (A), Cadiz (H), Real Sociedad (A), Rayo Vallecano (H), Mallorca (H), Real Betis (A), Celta Vigo (H), Getafe (A), Villarreal (H).

If the stats are anything to go by, a title race photo finish is still very much on the cards.

Real return to action in two weeks and they should bounce back with a win against Celta Vigo. However, they will then turn their attention to the Champions League and their two games against Chelsea.
Sandwiched in the middle of their European tie, is a league match with Getafe - an opponent Real have failed to beat in their last two attempts. What's more, Getafe have only lost two of their last nine games and have proved tough to beat in recent weeks.
Once Chelsea are out of the way, Carlo Ancelotti's men will face second-placed Sevilla.

Los Nervionenses recently bowed out of the Europa League at the hands of West Ham, which means their focus is solely on La Liga. If that wasn't enough of a concern, Real have only won two of their last seven games at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez.

Ancelotti's men will then take on Osasuna and Espanyol before tackling the Madrid derby. Interestingly, Atletico Madrid haven't won this fixture since the 2018 Super Cup final. But then again, you can never write off Diego Simeone's side.
After all, they are still the defending Spanish champions and are currently enjoying their strongest spell of the season.
Real will be overwhelming favourites in their next two games against Levante and Cadiz, and will be expected to take all six points.
However, they will then close out the season with a potentially high-stakes clash against Real Betis.
Manuel Pellegrini's side are currently chasing the top four and have a good recent record against Los Blancos.
In their last six head-to-head encounters, both teams have won twice, with the other two games ending in 0-0 draws.

Inevitably, if Barcelona are to stand any chance of crashing Real's early title party, they will have to power through their own remaining games without any major hiccups.

While that may seem like a near-impossibility, Xavi's men won't be fazed by the size of the challenge. After all, if there's anything we learned from Sunday, it's that you don't need much for miracles to happen. If Barca can conquer Madrid with an Arsenal outcast leading the charge, then anything is possible.

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