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For the first time in history Spain had three teams knocked out
of the top European tournament in the group stage, as Barcelona,
Atletico and Sevilla failed miserably to advance past their
groups to the round of 16.
Even champions Real Madrid, who were already through and playing
to wrap up top spot, lost 3-1 at Leipzig on Tuesday, their first
defeat in all competitions this season.
Carlo Ancelotti's team, who will host modest Girona on Sunday,
are on top of the LaLiga standings on 31 points, three ahead of
Barcelona, who lost the lead thanks to a 3-1 defeat to their
bitter rivals at Santiago Bernabeu in 'El Clasico' two weeks
ago.
The Italian manager is expected to bring back into action
against Girona several regular starters like Karim Benzema, Luka
Modric and Federico Valverde who did not play against Leipzig
when Real looked stale against a young and energetic German side
playing for a top-two spot.
"More is learned from one defeat than from 10 consecutive
victories," Ancelotti told a news conference on Tuesday.
"It is a defeat that hurts, but not too much because we still
have another opportunity in the last game to finish top in our
group."
That luxury will be denied to Barcelona, Atletico and Sevilla,
who have already been eliminated from the Champions League.
Sevilla at least managed to win their first game in the
tournament 3-0 against Copenhagen on Tuesday and will continue
in the second-tier Europa League after ending up third in the
group.
Enjoying the new manager bounce since Jorge Sampaoli arrived for
his second stint with the club a three weeks ago, Sevilla will
host Rayo Vallecano when they try to clinch only their third win
in the LaLiga this season.
Barca and Atletico, however, have no silver linings to look for.
The Catalonia giants were knocked out in the group stage of the
Champions League for the second season in a row and lost 3-0 at
home to Bayern Munich in a match where they did not manage to
have a single shot on target.
This season, however, following the big-money signings of
Lewandowski, Raphinha and Jules Kounde, a better outcome had
been expected.
They will play at Genaro Gattuso's Valencia on Saturday with
their morale on the ground, even though they are coming from two
dominating wins against solid teams at LaLiga: a 3-0 against
Villarreal and 4-0 over Athletic Bilbao.
"This is our reality and we have to face it. Maybe that's what
we needed, to be given a beating in order to grow," Xavi
Hernandez told a news conference at Camp Nou on Wednesday.
"It's a really bad feeling but we need to reset and reconnect to
fight for LaLiga and Europa League."
The situation is similar with Atletico Madrid, who are still in
danger of finishing dead last in the Champions League Group B
and being knocked out completely from European soccer this
season.
They will play second-from-last Cadiz on Saturday following
their disheartening 2-2 draw at home against Bayern Leverkusen,
missing a stoppage-time penalty that could have kept them in
contention.
"It's a difficult, hard and unexpected moment. It's only the
second time in 10 years that we are out in the group stage,"
Atletico coach Diego Simeone said.
"It was not planned but it is the reality. There are two places
to put yourself, in victimhood or in continuing to work, I
choose to continue working."
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas)
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