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In part, this La Liga season can rightly be described as a failure for Real... After all, we are not talking about the Champions League here, but about La Liga, where Real have performed their worst result in recent years... They have now lost second place in the standings and Atletico have moved them down... So even though they won the Spanish Cup and play in the semi-finals of the Champions League, their results in La Liga are very poor...
Your assumption is undeniable, indeed I agree that Real Madrid's performance this season in La Liga is not as expected, of course when compared to Barcelona. Real Madrid failed to maintain its best form in the top La Liga for several reasons. Injuries to Benzema and several other players are one of the problems, while the form of other teams that continues to improve has also been one of the factors why Real Madrid has failed to compete this season.
Real Madrid relies a lot on Benzema and Vinicius, in fact I really believe Real Madrid will have a very difficult time winning matches if these two players are not involved in one match. Asensio and Rodrygo are good, but they can't do much at times.