"Barça and Atlético are five points ahead of us, and are favourites to win the league, but I still have a lot of hopes for the second half of the season". The words were Carlo Ancelotti's, just before the start of the Christmas break, and he was not wrong.
In the eight rounds of league fixtures so far in 2014, Real Madrid has won seven of them and drawn one, meaning a total of 22 out of a possible total of 24 points, and with 22 goals scored and three conceded- The defensive solidness of Ancelotti's side is one of the key factors in Real Madrid's fightback, having gone six games now without conceding any goals at all.
Ancelotti's team is now sole league leader, a position not occupied for the past 20 months.
Barça and Atlético de Madrid, however, have in the last eight games only won four each, and have both dropped ten points along the way, compared with the two dropped by Real Madrid (against Athletic de Bilbao, a 1-1 draw). Barça drew 0-0 at the Calderón, 1-1 at Levante; lost at home to Valencia 2-3 at the Camp Nou, and now this weekend at Anoeta, lost 1-3 to Real Sociedad. Atlético de Madrid dropped four points at the Calderón - 0-0 against Barcelona; 1-1 against Sevilla; and then dropped six by losing 2-0 in Almería and now 3-0 at Osasuna.
Carlo Ancelotti is the spirit of success in this spectacular fight back. The Madrid manager is now the most successful debutant on the Bernabéu benches in the entire history of the club, surpassing the record of Pellegrini with 20 wins, three draws and two defeats.
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