Osasuna’s Javier Camunas sent Real Madrid into a world of pain with a wonderfully placed strike that clipped the woodwork but fortunately went in (Robin Van Persie will have something to say about that). With this loss, Real are 7 points behind Barca and as Sid Lowe points out, the race for the title maybe all but over. Suddenly Manuel Pellegrini does not look so bad.
Mourinho brought on Emmanuel Adebayor, Kaka, and Xabi Alonso (now which club can boast such bench players?) but to no avail. Mesut Oezil seems to be the one creative spark. Ronaldo was quite invisible other than a hissy fit. Real’s woes have come on the road against the bottom dwelling clubs like Mallorca, Levante, Almería and Osasuna who seem to be taking inordinate pleasure in sticking it to Fiorentina Perez’s Galacticos version 2.