Álvaro Benito, former player and former coach of Real Madrid, currently a soccer analyst at Movistar, SER, and the newspaper AS, has given an interview to The Wild Project.
In it, he was asked about his favorite for a league that has three teams separated by two points: Real Madrid, Atlético, and Barça.
Álvaro Benito Sees a Champion Team and Argues in a Curious Way
Álvaro Benito is clear about it. The champion will be Real Madrid. He argues it like this:
"Doing a logical exercise, although soccer doesn't have it, I would say that the team with the most room for improvement is Real Madrid.
It is the one that has given the worst sensations of the three at a football level and is leading. If it manages to improve and doesn't have injuries, it should," he said.
In other words, the champion will be the one that has given the worst sensations so far and, therefore, the one with the most room for improvement. A curious way to analyze the issue.
Although he clarifies that there will be a fight until the end: "I really foresee that it will be very tight until the end."
¿QUIÉN VA A GANAR LA LIGA? ¿Y LA CHAMPIONS? - Álvaro Benito hace sus apuestas con Jordi Wild
Asked about the Champions League, Álvaro Benito doesn't see either Atlético or Barça at Real Madrid's level. Not even after having avoided the play-off by qualifying among the top eight.
In the Champions League, Real Madrid Is Very Much Real Madrid
"Liverpool is the team that is showing the most consistency in terms of performance. But in the Champions League, the group stage is one thing, and the knockout rounds are another. There, it doesn't have so much to do with dynamics but with emotions," he said.
And he added: "We'll see how Liverpool faces these types of situations. In the end, I would say the usual ones. Bayern, Real Madrid, Manchester City, and then a step below Liverpool and Barça."
It's his forecast, although he clarifies that "soccer always leaves you wrong." Álvaro Benito doesn't succumb to the wave of praise that Barça is reaping in recent days.
For years, he has maintained the theory that it lacks forcefulness, experience, and poise in big moments. It's a competition that doesn't allow for doubts. In that subject, precisely, Real Madrid gets top marks.