Granero: The gap between Barca and Madrid is very small

Real Madrid midfielder Esteban Granero has voiced his opinion that the gap between his club and Barcelona is not as big as the results in the 2010-11 campaign would suggest.

Madrid were beaten by Barca in the semi-finals of the Champions League last season and were never truly able to threaten the Catalans in La Liga, although they finished only four points behind their arch rivals in the table.

Granero feels, however, that under the guide of Jose Mourinho, the 2011-12 season will bring success to the capital giants.

He told Marca: "I hope that the coach [Jose Mourinho] will stay on for a long time as I think his project here can become very successful. We are confident that next year will be better for us. A lot of people say there is a big gap between us and Barcelona, but I disagree."

The 23-year-old then briefly discussed his future and made it clear that he is not interested in leaving Madrid, having moved to the Santiago Bernabeu in 2009 from Getafe.

"I have confidence in my own abilities and I am staying at Madrid. I still have a contract for two more years and the coach and club have faith in me. We all have the intention to continue working together."

The gap between Granero and the starting line up is very large on the other hand.

/troll

small but not very small.

When Barcelona won la liga before their last few fixtures, Madrid were 5-8 points behind. As far as I'm concerned, that is the difference.

lol.. is this a goal.com article?

"A lot of people say there is a big gap between us and Barcelona, but I disagree."

not a big gap =/= a very small gap

Yeah, but there's power ups on the field that help you deal with those gaps.

If you compare both squads then the gap is low, however it's about playing the correct tactics too.

Granero is humble and respectful.

We finished ahead of them only by four points and managed to win only one of the four Clasicos at the end of the season. Of course the gap isn't big.

I'd still say that our starting XI is slightly better than theirs, but they thump us in depth and quality of the bench players.

The gap is lower than people think imo, and I think its closing to equal

In these four El Clasicos, there were 2 ties, 1 win and 1 loss for each of the teams. I say Barcas attack is better than Real, and that is the difference.

The gap is in squad chemistry and certain tactics, no more.

the general football discussion thread is fast turning into an 'el-clasico' thread

To be honest, its true, the gap is very small indeed. We are quick in catching up, though La Liga was completely fairly deserved by Barca and nothing we can say about that. But we wont, because Granero is humble and respectful.

In terms of Squad Madrid are the best by a long distance in Europe, in terms of starting 11, Barcelona are still the best, but Madrid have improved dramatically since that drubbing in december. The gap is closer for sure, no?

The gap isnt big, but to me the gap is still clear.

Madrid change the way they usually play against us dramatically, that alone should tell people something.

Our core players, the group of say 5 (Messi, Xavi, Ini, Puyol, Dani Alves) is also stronger then their core group.

Def a small gap now, barca edges because when they play perfect (cl final) imo no one can beat them, with a couple good transfers better depth Barcelona will still edge out real madrid next year but this is just my opinion.

Well Barca is on their peak atm but Real Madrid is chasing them like a dog. we'll get them sooner or later

well there is a small gap, and saying that when we have a young team like ours with only 1 year together is not bad.

this barcelona team has been building together for years, some players playing together for decades, with the same overall squad since 2008. and before.

jose mourinho is trying to build a team that is here for the future, and i feel he is trying to build a counter attacking football kind of philosophy.

mourinho is here to do far more things than to give us trophies, hes here to give us a good philosophy, like he said, madrid have a philospohy, all they need now it to implement it right. having said that.


im sure they players have learned from their past matches, ozil sahin, midfield seems promising.

one thing we have to fight for, is too get that momentum where we are not underdogs like we have looked like many times.

in our first year we came close, but were unlucky.

hopefully next year we have more luck *cough* *cough* and we will prob def play better.


barcelona and real madrid will mark the football era for years to come.

On paper, then yes, the gap is very small, and some would dare to say that Madrid's squad is just as good as Barca's.

But tactically, Madrid have A LOT of work to do to catch up with Barca.

I wouldnt say the gap is huge... but i wouldnt say it is small either...

the thing is Real madrid plays barca completely different to any other team they play... in all honesty and I am not trying to troll they play scared.

The only time they tried playing man to man they got schooled. Now an argument many are going to use is that to play barca you have to park the bus that you have to play rough rugby style but you see playing that style shows the gap between the two teams

imo the gap will be close when Real Madrid plays them without being scared and actually acomplishes something...

I think its a pretty sizeable gap. 313 miles or 504 kilometres

come the end of next season with at least 4 clasicos madrid will get even better at playing barca.. since barca dont have much depth they play the same style madrid might learn how to play them.. then it could turn out to be sexhausting for barca :cherry: