Barcelona’s front three of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar (MSN) have doubled the production of Real Madrid forwards Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo (BBC) so far in 2015.
During this latest stretch, Barcelona’s MSN have scored 24 goals and added 18 assists; as compared to the 10 goals and 6 assists notched by Real Madrid’s BBC.
While Bale, Benzema and Ronaldo still hold the slight advantage over the course of the season, Real Madrid’s poor performances since returning from the winter break – combined with Barcelona’s resurgence – have seen the Catalan club’s attacking trio cut the scoring gap significantly in the New Year.
Real Madrid’s trident currently has 67 goals and 38 assists in all competitions, with Barcelona’s attacking trio notching 63 goals and 39 assists.
After winning 22 consecutive matches, Real Madrid have looked vulnerable due to lackluster performances, locker room unrest and recent injuries.
Since the start of the New Year, Carlo Ancelotti’s side have played nine times: winning five matches, losing three with one draw. While Barcelona have now won ten consecutive matches in all competitions (since their 1-0 setback against Real Sociedad) and Messi, Suarez and Neymar have been firing on all cylinders.
Lionel Messi has particularly excelled in recent weeks and is clearly benefiting from an improved relationship with manager Luis Enrique. Since being benched against Real Sociedad, Messi has scored 11 goals and given nine assists; bringing his season tally to 34 and 20 in all competitions.
Not only have Barcelona closed the scoring gap on Real Madrid, they now only trail the league leaders by a single point on the La Liga table with plenty of matches left to play, including the second installment of this season’s El Clasico at the Camp Nou (Sunday, March 22nd at 4:00pm EST).
The race in Spain is truly on!
