Former Barcelona and Real Madrid star Luis Figo has given his opinion on the La Liga title race and the reason for Barcelona’s slump in form recently. The player famously left Barcelona in 2000 to join eternal rivals, Real Madrid.
He instantly became known as a traitor by Catalonia and was booed every time he visited the Camp Nou. The legend went to achieve massive success with Madrid and is surprised by Barcelona’s predicament.
He started in unusual fashion at a press conference in Berlin saying, “ I don’t normally speak to the Catalan press, but I’ll make an exception,” , said the Portuguese.
Figo initially stated for the record that he didn’t prefer Real Madrid or Barcelona in particular saying, “I don’t take any pleasure in others losing, it doesn’t enrich my life or make me happy. I’m a sportsman, I don’t have anything against Barcelona, it’s you [the Catalan press] that have something against me. I had five great years [at Camp Nou]; “
He explained why he left Barcelona in the way he did. “I left for sporting and financial reasons and because I wasn’t given enough recognition. Honestly, on Saturday I played golf, on Sunday I played golf. My life doesn’t revolve around Barcelona or Madrid. I’m happier doing other things.”
Figo has also had his ups and downs. In 2004,Real Madrid were managed by Carlos Queiroz when they suffered a similar collapse to the one Barcelona are currently experiencing. “Teams function on group dynamics. What’s happening to Barcelona isn’t normal. Losing so many games isn’t logical but when you’re in that situation everything that can go wrong does. It is a question of dynamics, not the quality of the players.”
“What happened with us under Queiroz?” I can’t explain it, what can I tell you? When you’ve been playing well all season and in one-week results go against you… these things happen, that’s sport, and only people who have played the game can understand how it is.”
Barcelona have let a 10-point lead over Atletico Madrid slip and are now only a point ahead of Real Madrid and lead only on the head-to-head record against Atletico. Figo admits that it’s anyone’s title now.
“But the Liga has opened up and anything can happen.Things become more tense and there is a narrower margin of error and that is when the character of sides becomes apparent. If you’re in a positive dynamic, you score three or four goals. If you’re in a negative one you can’t hit a rainbow. But you can’t question the quality of the players.”
Barcelona haven’t won in the league since a 6-0 thumping of Getafe in March. Three have suffered three consecutive losses and have seen their rivals only become stronger with each game.
After it looked like the Catalans would run away with the title , it now sees them hanging on to first place in La Liga after losing at home to Valencia on Sunday. Luis Enrique has a huge task on hand to turn their fortunes around before it’s too late.
