2) Barcelona losing 3 La Liga matches in a row
When Barcelona beat Getafe 6-0 in the second week of March, they were rewriting the record books. A string of matches without defeat going all the way back to October had seen the Catalan club steamroll their opponents and build an 11-point lead at the top – almost unassailable by La Liga standards.
Almost.
A 2-2 draw against Villarreal in the next game when the defending champions were up 2-0 was just a sign of things to come. At a time when both Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone and Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane had conceded the league title, the entire world was in for a shocking awakening.
Real Madrid drew first blood with a win over Barcelona in the Clasico at the Camp Nou, showing all sides that they were not as invincible as they looked. A visit to Real Sociedad followed and the Catalan club’s poor record at the Anoeta continued as they failed to register a win yet again – something they haven’t achieved since 2007.
The 1-2 loss to Valencia at home seemed to be the penultimate nail in the coffin as both the Madrid sides made up ground and threw the league wide open. Atletico even knocked them out of the Champions League to add insult to injury.
However, Barcelona recovered quickly, did not panic, and won their last five games with an aggregate scoreline of 24-0, keeping five clean sheets as they eventually lifted their 24th league title with a one-point lead that Real Madrid simply could not erase.
