Barcelona – Devil's Advocate

So there have been a few blogs recently talking about Barcelona and how they are the greatest team of all time. Well this betting blog would like to differ.

I’m looking at the Spanish BBVA La Liga table as we speak. Now I’m no expert on football, but it looks to me like Barcelona are currently 6 points behind Real Madrid, with the same number of games played. Seeing as they themselves are 22 points clear of the team in 3rd (Valencia) it would appear that this Barcelona team is the second best team in a two-horse race.

This is where it sometimes helps to look at sport and betting through the eyes of a non-expert. I am not bedevilled by all this mull about time of possession or number of passes completed or how Lionel Messi is the best player ever. All I see is a team that isn’t even the best in it’s own domestic league.

Looking at goal difference (a better metric of a team’s quality than points) here are the results:

Barca: +62

Real: +69

I’m not really sure what else to say. Barca always beat Real, the boys in the office tell me. Well that must just mean that Real have an EVEN BETTER record against the rest of the league than Barca (given that Real have been dropping points in the head to head).

Both teams are still in the Champions League.

What am I missing guys?