Mayor of Madrid omits Barcelona from Real Madrid sentiment - "Atletico Madrid is the only team that can challenge them"

Real Madrid certainly look like the team to beat this season. Carlo Ancelotti’s side have been excellent for the most part, especially considering their well-documented injury problems. At the halfway stage of the campaign, they have already won the Spanish Super Cup, sit second in La Liga (one point behind Girona with a game in hand) and they are also well placed in the Champions League and Copa del Rey.

Barcelona have so often been the biggest challengers to Real Madrid, but after Sunday’s destructive Spanish Super Cup final defeat, many are questioning whether Xavi Hernandez’s side are able to do this. This includes Jose Luis Martinez Almeida, Mayor of Madrid, who believes that Los Blancos’ biggest challengers this season will come from across the city, as per Marca.

“I think what Atletico Madrid have to do is push Real Madrid to the limit, because we’re the only team that can push them to the limit. That has a lot of merit, because Real Madrid are a great team. It’s not easy to beat Real Madrid, and even less so when there’s a title at stake. But we’ve seen it in this Super Cup, we were able to get until the 120th minute, where we lost by an own goal. The result in the final against Barcelona was significantly different.”

It’s worth noting that Martinez Almeida is an Atleti fan, so Barcelona fans could use that as justification for his remarks. However, it should also be noted that Los Rojiblancos are the only side to defeat Real Madrid in all competitions this season, so there is some substance.