Real Madrid's Nightmare: Guard of Honor or Celebration in El Clásico

Real Madrid's prolonged complacency has ultimately led to La Liga being virtually decided – in a championship where players have long seemed to lose belief.

At La Cartuja, Arbeloa's team stepped onto the pitch with the sole mission of preventing a result that would almost certainly hand the title to their rivals in the worst possible scenario. To avoid the eternal rival's championship celebration… or something almost as painful – forming a guard of honor for them in El Clásico. There was no middle ground, no matter how much the white club tried to present it that way.

A championship celebration or a guard of honor. Two images that sting equally and perfectly illustrate the current state of both teams. And in the middle stands an unavoidable question: which would hurt Madridistas more? Spanish football, so attached to its unwritten codes, faces an unprecedented situation: never before has one of the two giants mathematically clinched the title specifically in El Clásico.

But this Real Madrid has long been on a different path – one that has distanced them from the consistency needed to contend for the title. The gap is already nine points, with the real danger of it becoming eleven if Barcelona fulfills its task against Getafe. Round after round, La Liga is increasingly painted in blaugrana, while Real's reaction has yet to materialize. Even a potential collapse from Barça no longer seems enough to keep hope alive.

Forced not to make mistakes, the team once again squandered a crucial opportunity. Two points remain at La Cartuja, and they weigh more due to their significance than their actual value. Because on the other side, Flick's Barcelona is already looking at the calendar in a completely different way… and without suffering as much before a tough away game like the one in Getafe. Real Madrid seems to have forgotten to keep pressing their eternal rival.

And so, almost imperceptibly, the focus shifts. From the title race to calculating when it will be officially sealed. A Barcelona victory in this round opens up a different scenario: the team arriving at El Clásico in the 35th round already as champions. With all that this would entail, and with the question mark over whether Real Madrid would accept the role they would have to play at Camp Nou.

Before that, however, many more things could become clear. If Hansi Flick's team gets the job done against Osasuna, and Real doesn't respond against Espanyol, the 34th round will leave the title practically decided. If both teams win their respective matches, Barça could celebrate the championship title in their stadium and in front of their fans… by defeating Real Madrid in El Clásico. But football, capricious as few other things are, seems determined to lead the story to the same point. And El Clásico awaits there. So the question is inevitable: championship celebration or a guard of honor?

Commentary by Joel del Rio for "Marca"