Crisis at the Bernabéu? La Liga Race Heating Up as Barcelona Close the Gap

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1:28Coming up on today's show. Mbappe keeps it alive. Jude Bellingham scored a late equalizer for Real Madrid as they rescued a point against Elche. Barcelona made a spectacular return to the camp now by thumping Athletic Club. It's Ferran Torres passes fourth. Villarreal kept pace with the two at the top as Gerard Moreno scored for the fourth consecutive. La Liga game and Atletico Madrid needed a late own goal against Getafe to keep their own winning run going. Stay tuned for all the action.

2:15Hello and welcome to the Rest is Football La Liga with Alex Algeo and me Gary Lineker We're through the November international breaks. The Knights are drawing in here in the UK and in Spain, of course. And it feels like this is the time when the season really starts hotting up a little bit. Before we discuss the weekend's games, Alex, you were actually out in Madrid, weren't you? Yes, another trip to Madrid. Can't stay away at the moment. I must say, following your social media, your Instagram, every time I see you, You seem to be like having a party or something, or you're out in a bar or celebrating something.

2:57I mean, what a life you need. Life is short, Gary. Life is short, Gary. You've got to... Well, it'd be very short for me, I would imagine, from here on in. But you've got to have fun as well. I worked very hard. So when there was another... Well, there was obviously another international break, I thought, yeah. And I had a bit of work at Madrid as well. There was an event that I hosted out there. So I just stayed for a few extra days. Had some fun with my friends. It was Eric, the Atletico fan's 50th birthday, as I mentioned in the last pod. So we went out and celebrated. He's very concerned that we're giving him a bad reputation.

3:29Also, he's not as negative as we make him out to be. Well, you make him out to be. I've never met him. And I'm just repeating everything he says to me. So we'll talk about him later in the Atletico section. I can't wait to hear another victory there. What about you? What about you? I hear about a day with Michael McIntyre. Yes, it was surreal. He had this idea and it's a bit of fun. So you watch a big game. It's a YouTube show and it's out. It was out yesterday. So you can catch it. It's called In The Box. Unlike the show I'm about to present for ITV, which is called The Box. everything in my life seems to center around the box being on the box and that you know inside the six yard box and i'll be in a wooden box soon but anyway but um the basic concept is you have four kind of fans of each team so yesterday it was the north london derby obviously and there were four Arsenal fans, like YouTube people or somebody well-known.

4:34They had Jordan Stevens. And then on our team, we had Ozzy Ardiles and Michael and Jess. And it was, so basically you drip fed kind of stills of action in the game, but you're in a box, you can't have your phones and you're not allowed to listen. So you don't know what's going on in the match, but then they'll show you a little clip. Like the first half, it just seemed to be an Arsenal player about to shoot, mostly SA. But then there was a long throw in for Tottenham when they saw the ball going in. And they're quite clever. They keep cutting up crowd pictures and maybe famous faces in the crowd, but they all look miserable and they're all Arsenal fans.

5:12So you start to think, ah, what is this? And then at the end, you have to say what's happened and what your predictions are. And even the Arsenal fans were really, really cocky at the start of it. by the end of the game were convinced that they hadn't won or there weren't many goals and it might have been 1-0 to Tottenham. That's amazing. In reality. I love that. At the end, they flash up the score and everyone goes, oh my God. And then they go, Eze Atrix. Did you enjoy it or would you rather just watch the game? I found it very interesting. It was a giggle. I don't think I'd want to spend another Sunday doing it that way because it's very frustrating.

5:52I like watching football. yeah so Michael McIntyre is hilarious isn't he I love Michael I like him a lot and that's why I did it I did it as a favour because he's he's brilliant yeah he's a lot of fun and a massive Spurs fan isn't he and a big and a big Spurs so he didn't have a great day yesterday I was actually there they were terrible Tottenham I know I know we're not here to talk about Tottenham but um but yeah not great not great at all Tottenham Tottenham Tottenham but my next game is um It's Chelsea-Barcelona, which is really exciting. So, yeah, off to Sanford Bridge in a bit, interviewing Enzo Moresca, Marco Correa, and then Rafinha later, which is exciting.

6:30Ah, good. So hopefully he starts. Because if he starts, the interview will be in the show, pre-match show. If he doesn't start, you'll never see the interview. Well, don't forget to mention our podcast. And if you'd ever like to come on, we'd love to have a little chat. I will, I will, I will. I learned the hard way last time when I forgot to mention. Does he speak English? I don't think so Because he was at Leeds for a while Yeah Well I'll ask him If we're doing exclusive For us in England Maybe it's Yorkshire like Micah Yeah We'll get Micah on as well No so looking forward to that one Should be a good game On to the football then We should probably start with Real Madrid Because once again Alex Your team has dropped points That's three games on the bounce Crisis Crisis There's always un crisis Siempre with either Barcelona or Real Madrid.

7:17Although there's always one of them in crisis. One game away from a crisis. So we're playing at Elche. Let's show you the highlights. Well, Elche have never beaten Real Madrid before in 11 previous attempts. It's tonight the night to change that in Alicante.

7:41Carreras. Well, Carreras was rather caught on the ball there. That's Rafa Mir and Courtois stands strong to keep it out. Alexander-Arnold. Gula, clever touch. Gets it back. And Ardegula shoots. Not far over the bar.

8:02Bebas. Valera. That's very nice. Very nice indeed. Elche have the lead. And a bit of build-up that deserved a goal. and Alex Fébas duly obliged.

8:21Here comes the corner, Bellingham touched it on, it's been turned in by Dean Housen. Here is Alvaro Rodriguez. Rodriguez not with much help! Didn't need any! Alvaro Rodriguez with a brilliant goal to restore Elche's lane.

8:46Another Real Madrid set-piece. It's kept alive by Hausson. Jude Bellingham, Peña saves. Mbappe keeps it alive. And Jude Bellingham rides to Real Madrid's rescue. He's on the pitch for the full-time today. And Xabi Alonso will be mighty relieved he's there. and it's set.

9:12Bellingham, here's their time for a late-rail Madrid winner. Mbappe turns away from Kust, who has a big tug at his shirt. The yellow card comes quickly out, the red follows. Two bookings for Victor Kust, and Elche will play the final couple of minutes with ten. It is cynical, and he knows exactly what he's doing. it is drop points in La Liga for just the third time this season for Real Madrid Held and Elche in the end perhaps they're grateful for just a point well just a point for Real Madrid Alex but I suppose it could have been worse another important goal from Jude Bellingham I mean he's in form at the moment and I've just there's a stat here that Jude Bellingham has registered a goal and an assist in 10 games since moving to Real Madrid no player in La Liga has more in that time, I presume, than having an assist and a goal in the same game.

10:12And credit to him right now when there's a lot of negativity surrounding his name. Everyone's talking about him for all the wrong reasons. When he's on the top of his game, it just genuinely exasperates me. But thank goodness it's not affecting him, is I guess what I'm trying to say here. And he's letting his football do the talking. And yeah, stepped up once again. But not great for Real Madrid. three games now without a win. The headlines this morning was a marker. It just says, sufriendo. And in AS, the other paper in Madrid, it says, salto la alarma. AS, what a great name for a paper. We should call up some of our newspapers here.

10:49AS. Yeah, AS, it just says, salto la alarma, like alarm bells ringing. I mean, is it a crisis? Not ideal that they had to come from behind twice against Elche, but Elche having a brilliant season. And we can't just say that it's a good start to the season for Elche anymore, that the project's clearly working, credit to Edith Sarabia. But I assume that Real Madrid wanted to convince the win. Of course they did. It wasn't that, but they didn't lose. But the gap at the top is now just one point, Gary. One point. One point. It's exciting. We want it like this, don't we? Madrid on 32, Barca 31, Villarreal 29, Atletico 28.

11:25And then there's a big gap. Yeah, Real Betis. So it's tight. It is funny though. I mean, I spent three years in Barcelona, obviously, and it was exactly the same. It's exactly the same there. The levels of expectation for those two clubs, I think, are bigger than anywhere in world football. Now, there are people that will support Liverpool or Manchester United that will go, no, no, no, that's not the game. But trust me, the levels of madness around it. I mean, this is one defeat, by the way, in the last three games with two draws. Yeah, yeah. Depends which way you look at it. And they are top of the table.

12:00And they are in what they're calling in crisis. Now, it's frankly absurd. I think it was season number two that I was there. We'd had a season. We'd just missed out the season before. And then we had Terry Venables in charge. I think it was three games in. We drew one, lost one, one, one. He was out. There's no patience. I just said, what? No patience. No, no apathianthia. No, there isn't. but I think there will be patience with Xabi for sure. They've got to be. I mean, he's going well in the Champions League. They're top of the table. They've barely lost a football match. He's come in. He's got to try to change things a little bit.

12:38He's had, you know, players have been out injured. Yeah. Yeah. And also, I mean, I saw quite a few bits this week. I mean, you've been in Madrid. You tell me that there's unrest in the camp and the players are not happy with Xabi Alonso. His training methods. and the fact that he's trying to push himself on the team, you know, as being the leader, which he is. I mean, is this just the usual nonsense or? Yeah, I think it's all chat. I really do. I don't think there are any real issues in that Madrid camp. As far as I know, all the players are really happy. So they love Xabi Alonso. You can see it.

13:15You can see it in the training images. He's joining in. He's in the middle of all the training drills. He's one of them, isn't he? He's a top manager, a top person. and I think this chat needs to stop now. But there's always, as you say, there's always going to be. It's part of football, isn't it? Oh, we can't stop now. We've got to do the rest of the podcast. Okay, we've got a few more minutes for this. But no, back to the game. Typical that the two Elche players that scored were Cantaranos from Real Madrid-Castilla. Both of them played in the youth team there. It's always the way, isn't it? Why is it always the way?

13:43Alex Bebas and Alvaro Rodriguez doing the damage. Rodriguez only left in the summer. He came off the bench and you sort of know that he's going to come on and score. 90 minutes for Trent is a really good thing for him. I mean, one of the goals, didn't it, went behind him. I don't think it was his fault, but you know what it's like in this world where everyone looks to try and highlight a Trent. All the Liverpool fans waiting, waiting. But he hit two or three really good crosses in. And that's his first full game, really. Yeah. So I think that will help him a lot. Get back, get his fitness back.

14:17Hopefully play Champions League matches coming up as well soon. and he'll be back in the swing of things because everyone loves to watch Trent play. Yeah, they do. He made a real difference. I read something online that said, everyone else can walk home except for Trent and Jude. They're allowed on the bus because they played really well. But all the others... It wasn't shabby Alonso who said that, though, was it? It wasn't shabby. It wasn't shabby. You walk home. But no, Trent did really well. The thing about these stats and these numbers, I also saw somewhere that he lost the ball 25 times. But you've got it.

14:50OK, yeah, he's crossing the ball into the box. And if that counts as losing the ball, then, you know, it's not a fair statistic, I don't think. Well, no, it's the most unfair statistic of all, depending on what kind of player you are. Because if you look at the statistics of an end of the season, say even when Messi was playing, Messi would be very high in the list of losing the ball because they're the players that try things, that take things on that have to beat three or four players. They create, yeah. They're the creative. I'm not saying Trent's like Messi. I'm clearly not saying that. But the balls that he tries and succeeds on many, many occasions would not be tried by another player who might sit in the centre of midfield and pass it sideways four yards.

15:36And their pass completion rate is remarkably good. And if you just look at statistics, that can be very misleading. Yeah, yeah, certainly can. And what's a Real Madrid game without a controversial moment as well? It was the second goal. People thought that a Vinny Junior stamped on it in Yaki Peña, the Elche goalkeeper's face. I mean, there was a lot of blood pouring out of his nose. Well, I think there was contact. There was certainly contact. I don't know what you think. Not enough to disallow it. No, I mean, it was just one of those things. It was coming together, I think. I think that's what they've probably decided.

16:12But we know Real Madrid always get those decisions. anyway so yeah well they needed that point they needed that point yeah anyway it's all very tight at the top of the table no it is and Jude's flying I know we mentioned him briefly at the top and rather like the Xavi Alonso stuff it's it's it's all it's pretty nonsensical it seems strange to me that generally it's more over here than certainly not in Spain I don't think that picking on him at a time when he's playing his best football as well. It's very odd. It is very odd. It's definitely not in Spain, by the way. You're absolutely right in saying that.

16:50Of course. They love him. They adore him. They love him out there. They absolutely love him. It's just bizarre. There's no negativity around Jude Bellingham in Spain. It's just here in England. And we need him. So would you please stop? I mean, what an athlete he is as well. I mean, he goes up and down. He covers so much ground. You know, he's such a confident. And that's where it comes from here. We don't like anyone looking a little bit above themselves here for some reason. He's a leader. He exudes confidence on the pitch. You can call that arrogance, but all the great players have that. He's just playing so well at the moment.

17:28He really is. He absolutely is. They need him. Real Madrid need him and the English national team needs him as well. So, no, go on, Jude. Keep going like you're going. So, yeah. As for Barcelona, let's turn our attention to them. They were back in the camp now. It was far from a full camp now, but it's a start and it's a winning start. Let's have a look at the goals. After more than two years away, eventually there is no place like home for Barcelona. Back at the camp now, what sort of show can they put on tonight?

18:04The club just caught in possession there. This is Robert Lewandowski. it's Robert Lewandowski he's found a way through Delic club come again they've grown into their task here Williams just the wrong side of the post that's lovely outside of the foot from Lamin Yamal for Ferran Torres and again Unai Simon makes an error and again he's been made to pay the assist glorious the finish helped by a fumble

18:45Barcelona win it back again Torres Firmin Firmin Lopez 3-0 and that should settle it early in the second half Firmin Lopez makes it 3

19:08Oh, Sunset is going to get a yellow card there. The VAR is just going to check this, and Sunset's yellow could be about to get worse. It is high and it is reckless from the Athletic Club midfielder. It is not a yellow, it is about to be a red, and as if things weren't bad enough for Athletic Club, they are down to ten. Yamao Combination of strength and skill to ride a couple of challenges And feed Ferran Torres It's Ferran Torres The flag goes up I think Ferran Torres is going to be okay here

19:59Goal given His second Barca's fourth It is the happiest of homecomings for them. They have absolutely smashed Athletic Club here. Well, a comfortable victory for Barcelona. A couple of headlines in that one, I suppose. Marcus Rashford was missed out on this particular game. Had the flu, I believe. Have you heard? I mean, obviously, massive game that you will be covering, I think. Well, tonight, isn't it? Yeah, later on. So we hope so. We're going to be talking about him. I'm going to be with Gianfranco Zola and Roberto Martinez talking about moving abroad and settling in in a new country and actually how good it can be for your football as well, learning, you know, different parts of the game in different leagues.

20:44So hopefully... Two lovely people you'll be working with. Give them both my regards, please. They're so great, aren't they? Really nice people. Lucky me, lucky me. But yeah, no, hopefully Marcus Rashford. We want to see Marcus Rashford at Stamford Bridge. I'm not sure the Chelsea team do, but... It's a good little run for Barcelona because that is obviously an emphatic victory, but they've also now got Rafinha back fit. Yes, yes. Which is obviously a bonus. It's going to be interesting because obviously last season he played in the position where Marcus Rashford has been excelling this season.

21:16So it'll be interesting what happens there when they've got the choice of everyone. Lewandowski scoring goals at the moment. Laminia Mal, I mean two. Ferran Torres as well. Torres banging goals in. And they're also back in their home ground. So it's a good little, I mean, obviously that can be undone by a bad result at somewhere like Chelsea. And then they'll be in crisis. Crisis, crisis. But they should be pretty confident. They've narrowed that gap at the top of the table now to just one point. So everything's looking good in the Blaugrana world. Yeah, it certainly is. As you mentioned, 909 days later, back at their camp now.

21:5845 ,000 in there at the moment, just over, I think. Is that how long it was? 900? 909 days. Yeah. Wow. I didn't count, by the way. God, it goes fast. Tick, tick. And then, yeah, 45 ,000, it's going to go up to 105 ,000, which is incredible. Imagine the atmosphere inside the new camp with over 100 ,000 in there, which is the aim. Hopefully, in a couple of weeks, it will go up to 60 ,000. But right now, it's at 45 ,000. But a huge boost for them to be finally, finally back playing there. It's only the second time that Laminya Mal has started a game in the Nou Camp. Which is crazy, isn't it? I mean, that's mental.

22:34That is crazy. That is crazy. One of the assists in particular, I mean, God blimey. He's so good. I mean, absolutely superb. He's so good. I'm going to be asking Mark Cucurea in a bit how he plans on stopping him. I don't know if you read during the international break that Laminya Mal pulled out of the Spanish squad. He didn't go. And Mark Cucurea said, he only did that because he knew I would be doing my homework and, you know, working him out for the Champions League game. He's got a sense of humour, I think, Cucurea. He's so funny. He's hilarious. He's a hilarious guy. But no, he's so good, isn't he, Lamin, Yamal?

23:10He really is. I'd be interested to see what plan he's got because obviously they play together as well. What's the feeling? Because there's obviously this little bit of a fallout against obviously the Spanish national team with not necessarily Lamin-Yumal, but maybe Barcelona and the way they've handled him. Because a couple of months ago, didn't they? They put him in when he was injured and now he pulls out in the last second this time. And then it looks like the Spanish FA have had a little bit of a hissy fit. What's going on? It's tricky because they need to be working together, don't they?

23:44Really. And I don't think that's what's happening at the moment. The Spanish national team want him playing. Barcelona want him playing. you know, all the time. But, and he's so young and we've spoken about it before and we saw what happened with Pedri. He needs to be managed. He needs to be protected. And they all need to be working together towards the end goal, which is a fit Laminia Mal season after season and not to ruin him at this young, young age. Has he said anything on this yet? He hasn't spoken about it. Because at the minute, it's like a tug of war between the two and he's in the middle.