By the end of Laliga’s Matchday 20 games, defending champions Real Madrid had overtaken their city rivals, Atletico Madrid, at the top of the 2024/2025 Spanish league table with 46 points, two points more than Diego Simeone’s men and 7 points more than Hansi Flick’s ‘high-flying’ Barcelona.

While this circumstance might not be news or strange in any ordinary Spanish league season, it is in this particular one because this Real Madrid team had just a week or so ago suffered an embarrassing 5-2 defeat to Barcelona.

Yes, that was in another competition, the final of the Spanish Super Cup, but seeing as it wasn’t the first time this season (Barca also beat Madrid 4-0 at the Bernabeu in Laliga), and that the same Real Madrid could not also beat Atletico Madrid in Laliga when the two met at the Metropolitano earlier this season (drew 1-1), the weirdness of their leading the table becomes clear.

In this article, we analyse why this is the case by answering the question, is Real Madrid being top of Laliga credit to Carlo Ancelotti and his team or is it down to Barcelona and Atleti, both of whom were top of the league at one point, bottling their chances of keeping their lead?

🤍Real Madrid’s League🏆 Season in Numbers🔢: Good, Bad or Average?❓

💯Unbeaten at Home🏠:

Real Madrid ended the 2023/2024 Laliga season without suffering a defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu and that included games against their title rivals, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.

However, this season, with only 20 league games played, the Galacticos have already lost at home and not to just any other opponent than their biggest rivals, Barca and by a huge scoreline, 0-4.

❌Worst Laliga 🕜Start in 4 Season4️⃣:

After the first 17 games of the 2024/2025 Laliga season, Carlo Ancelotti’s team had accrued just 37 points, from a possible 51, making their worst start in the league in four seasons, with the last time they did worse being the 2019/2020 season (36 points).

To give you a better perspective on how bad this is, in the last 13 years, Real Madrid has had just six (6) of such bad Laliga beginnings, and this season in part of those six worst Laliga starts for the Los Blancos.

The others are the 2017-18 season when they amassed only 29 points after their first 17 league games, the 2018-19 season where they got only 31 points after 17 league games, the 2012-13, 2015-16, and 2019-20 seasons, where they managed only 36 points each in their first 17 games.

In addition to this, the last time Real Madrid lost 5 games in the first part of the season (from August to December) was the 2020/2021 season and this season.

🔒Clean Sheet Monsters🔒:

Last season, Real Madrid had the most clean sheets in not only the Spanish Laliga but in the entire European top five leagues, (21). However, at the halfway point this season, Ancelotti’s team could only boast eight (8) clean sheets.

🎈El Clasico Victories: The Best Morale Booster🎈

In Real Madrid’s Laliga-winning 2023-24 season, another thing that stood out about them was their clean sweep of all three El Clasico games they played against arch-rivals Barcelona in all competitions.

This is the biggest game in club football in the entire world, and winning it, as history has shown, can more than increase the confidence of the winning team exponentially, and then again there are the 3 points one would be taking from their biggest title challenger.

So the benefits of winning the El Clasico cannot be understated in Spanish football, and Real Madrid more than won their Clasicos, beating Barca 1-2 at their new makeshift home in their first league meeting, then 4-1 in the final of the Spanish Super Cup, before closing it out with a 3-2 win at the Bernabeu in the second league encounter.

This season, however, things have taken a very contrasting turn for Madrid as they are the ones being hammered left and right by their Baulgrana rivals, first in the league at the Bernabeu (4-0) and then the recent one.

🟣Barca & Atelti🔴: Bottling Experts✔️ or Just Not ❌Good Enough?

Now let’s move on from zeroing in on the defending champions and talk about their title challengers in Hansi Flick’s Barca and Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid. Did they bottle it?

🟣Barca & Flick Ball⚽:

Barcelona sacked Xavi Hernandez as their manager after last season and brought in Hansi Flick to take over as manager and so far one would say that it has been a great ride since the German took over but has it?

While yes Flick had led Barca to a title already this season in the Spanish Super Cup, one Xavi could not win last season (he won the league for them in his first season though), and gotten some huge wins (Bayern 3-0, Real Madrid 4-0, Real Madrid 5-2), Barcelona are not really conquering every competition.

Barcelona led the Spanish league table in the earlier on in the season, stretching Atletico by 6 points and Real Madrid by 4 points at one point this season (after 6 games) but at the moment they find themselves third (3rd) behind both Madrid clubs.

The Baulgrana’s European season is going a whole lot better than their other two rivals, having already secured qualification to the next round of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) and that is commendable.

Yet, despite this, Barca has lost to teams like Las Palmas, Leganes CD, Monaco, and league title rivals, Atletico Madrid this season.

Aside from this, Hansi Flick’s Barca boasts only 39 points after 20 games this season, a figure so much below the 44 points and 53 points Barcelona gathered after the same number of games under Xavi in his two full seasons in charge of the Spanish club.

🔴Atletico Madrid & Simeone🗣️:

Diego Simeone has won the Spanish Laliga twice (13/14 & 20/21) with Atletico Madrid and has finished runner-up with them a couple of other times, now while he is not as under pressure as his other two counterparts in Real Madrid and Barcelona to lift titles, Simeone has his own expectations.

Among those expectations is that, in a season like this one where both Real Madrid and Barca do not seem to have their affairs in order on the pitch as they normally do, he and his Atletico de Madrid team are expected to pounce.

However, they have so far failed to do that. While they spent a couple of days as the Spanish league leaders, that lead has since been annulled by Real Madrid.

Atletico made waves in the 2024/25 summer transfer window bringing in Julian Alvarez from Man City, Cornor Gallagher from Chelsea and Alexander Sorloth from Villarreal, making a statement of intent ahead of the season so it’s safe to say those expectations were high.

In some ways, Atletico Madrid has seen some improvement in the team. Aside from looking set to finish better than the 4th they finished last season, Simeone’s men have already done better in many areas than they did last season.

For instance, Atletico Madrid was in the top three for only two league stats metrics last season, Big Chances Missed (2nd with 71 big chances missed) and Shots on Target per Match (3rd with 5.4 shots on target per match).

This season, however, Simeone’s men are in the top three for Goals Conceded Per Match (1st with 0.7), Clean Sheets (2nd with 10), and Big Chances Missed (3rd with 36).

Aside from this, Atletico, who lead Barca on the league table, also beat Flick’s men 1-2 in their first meeting this season in the league, something which is very different from what happened last season when they were beaten at home and away by Barcelona.

🔚Conclusion🔚:

From the look of things, it seems Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid is first on the Spanish league table not because they are performing at a very high level, but because Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are bottling what is supposed to be an easy league title for either one of them.

 

 

You can check out the Spanish Laliga games of Real Madrid, Barca and Atletico Madrid here on MSport.

 

#Laliga #RealMadrid #AtleticoMadrid #Barcelona #Ancelotti #Flick #Simeone

 

Nottingham Forest’s return to the Premier League has been nothing short of a fairy tale. Once a club synonymous with struggles and near-relegations, they now find themselves firmly in the title race, just some 6 points off.

Here’s a closer look at what has driven their incredible rise.

🧠The Manager - Nuno Espirito Santo (AKA Manager of the Month)🧠:

Nuno Espírito Santo’s arrival at the City Ground marked a turning point for Forest. Appointed in December 2023 after Steve Cooper’s dismissal, Nuno steered what was a sinking Forest Titanic from a relegation storm to safety, or just about.

Then with a full preseason to implement his vision, the Portuguese tactician transformed Forest into the title contender or top four contenders at worst. Known for his defensive organization and counter-attacking philosophy, Nuno’s approach has reinvigorated the team.

His Premier League experience with Wolves, where he had a 48% win rate, Spurs, where he managed a 53% win rate in 17 games, and his title-winning stint with Al-Ittihad in Saudi, where he reached a career-high 70% win rate, demonstrate his pedigree.

“There is no way to play in the Premier League if you are not solid, compact, and strong in defense,” Nuno remarked, and his team has embraced this ethos wholeheartedly as the stats below would show.

🔢The Stats Behind Nottingham's Great EPL🔢:

Forest’s transformation this season has been built on solid defensive foundations and a knack for staying ahead in games. They have opened the scoring in 17 of their 21 matches—a league-best statistic—and kept an impressive nine clean sheets, more than any other Premier League team.

Their defence is among the tightest in the league, conceding just 20 goals, only bettered by Arsenal, 19. This defensive sturdiness has been supported by their ability to limit opponents to low-quality chances, boasting the best PPDA (passes allowed per defensive action) for two consecutive seasons.

Away from home, Forest has been formidable, accumulating 23 points on the road—the second-highest tally in the league, only behind Liverpool, 24. Their ability to stay compact and resilient under pressure has been the cornerstone of their success.

💫The Stars Behind Forest’s Amazing Season💫:

🧤Matz Sels: A Wall Between the Sticks🧤:

Matz Sels’ arrival from Strasbourg for £5 million in February last year has proven to be one of the shrewdest pieces of business in the league. With a save percentage of 75.3% (the best among goalkeepers with over 500 minutes played), Sels has been pivotal in Forest’s defensive success.

Facing 259 shots this season, Sels has remained unflappable, leading Forest’s backline to the joint-second-best defensive record in the league. His consistency and ability to pull off crucial saves in tight games have earned him plaudits as one of the best keepers in the Premier League this season.

⚽Chris Wood: The Relentless Target Man⚽:

At the other end of the pitch, Chris Wood has been the spearhead of Forest’s attack. Since Nuno’s arrival, the New Zealand international has scored 21 non-penalty goals, second only to Erling Haaland.

His 13 league goals this season make him one of the competition’s top scorers. Wood’s ability to dominate aerial duels, hold up play, and convert key chances has been invaluable. His goals often come at critical moments, underlining his importance to the team.

The partnership between Wood and creative talents like Morgan Gibbs-White and Anthony Elanga has added a clinical edge to Forest’s counter-attacks.

🔒Defensive Steel: Milenkovic, Murillo & Co🔒:

Forest’s defensive unit, led by Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo, has been another standout feature. Alongside summer signings Milenkovic and Morato, Murillo has become a linchpin in Forest’s backline.

Together, this trio has turned Forest into a defensive powerhouse, combining physicality, tactical awareness, and composure under pressure.

Complementing this backline is the tireless work of full-backs Ola Aina and Neco Williams, who provide width and defensive solidity. The defensive unit’s collective cost of just over £50 million highlights the efficiency of Forest’s recruitment strategy.

⚡The EPL’s Counter-Attack Kings⚡?

While Forest has been labelled the Premier League’s best counter-attacking team, their stats tell a different story. With 33 fast breaks leading to 29 shots and only four goals, they’ve struggled with conversions.

However, the pace and creativity of Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi on the flanks, combined with Gibbs-White’s vision, ensure that Forest remains a constant threat on the break.

Their low possession numbers (39.4%, the lowest in the league) and minimal passing sequences into the final third belie their effectiveness. Forest’s strength lies in their ability to defend deep and spring forward with precision, catching opponents off guard.

💭A Leicester-Style Dream?🤔

Nottingham Forest returned to the Premier League in 2022, 23 years after their relegation in 1999 and embarked on an ambitious recruitment drive financed by their Greek owner, Evangelos Marinakis who bought the club in 2017.

The club brought in 22 players during the summer transfer window of 2022, followed by seven more in January. Although the pace of signings has eased in subsequent windows, Forest has added a total of 56 players, including loan deals, since their promotion just over two years ago.

Comparisons to Leicester City’s miraculous 2016 title win are inevitable. Forest’s rise from relegation battlers to title contenders echoes the Foxes’ story. Like Leicester, Forest have defied pre-season expectations and betting odds to climb to third in the table.

With 40 points from their first 20 games, Forest are on track to achieve something remarkable. History suggests that teams with this tally rarely finish outside the top four. While Opta gives them a slim chance of winning the title, Nuno and his squad have proven that anything is possible.

🔚Conclusion🔚: A Resurgence to Remember;

Nottingham Forest’s resurgence under Nuno Espírito Santo is a testament to smart management, effective recruitment, and a united squad. From Sels’ heroics in goal to Wood’s clinical finishing, every player has contributed to their success.

While the road ahead is challenging, Forest has already captured the imagination of football fans worldwide. Whether they emulate Leicester’s feat or secure a Champions League spot, this season will be remembered as the year Forest re-established themselves among England’s elite.

You can check out Nottingham Forest games on MSport.