Figo Warns: La Liga Could Be Over Before May for Real Madrid
Luis Figo knows what a storm in Spain looks like. He lived inside one the day he crossed the divide from Barcelona to Real Madrid and turned El Clásico into a political act. When a man like that sounds the alarm, people in Madrid tend to listen.
Right now, the message is brutal: Barcelona are flying, and Real Madrid are already six points adrift and stumbling.
“Barcelona are winning, playing well and scoring goals”
Speaking to Spanish radio station Marca, Figo didn’t bother dressing it up. Barcelona have made a perfect start: 21 points from 21, 31 goals scored, a team that looks like it has hit top gear in September.
“They have started very strongly. They are winning, playing well and scoring goals,” the former Ballon d’Or winner said. “For Spanish football, this is of course a good thing.”
For Madridistas, it sounds anything but good. Barcelona’s surge has come as Real Madrid endure one of their worst openings in recent memory, already staring up the table at their greatest rivals.
The warning from Figo cut straight to the heart of that imbalance. If this keeps up, he suggested, La Liga might not even reach the final straight with anything left to decide. The title race, he hinted, could be effectively over before May.
He did, though, tap the brakes slightly: “We have to wait and see how the season develops, because it is very long.” A reminder that even the most dominant autumn can unravel in spring.
Faith in Madrid’s response
Despite the bleak numbers, Figo refused to write off the club he joined in the summer of 2000 and helped turn into a galáctico project.
“I am sure Real Madrid will compete until the end,” he insisted.
For him, the league is a test of nerve as much as talent.
“This is a competition that requires consistency until the month of May. There will be ups and downs during the season, and when they happen the team must show the maturity and quality to overcome them.”
That line felt pointed. Madrid have already hit one of those “downs” with their 2–0 defeat in Sunday’s derby against Atletico. A loss that hurt not just for the scoreline, but for the sense of being second-best in their own city.
Figo, though, wasn’t glued to the drama. He revealed he hadn’t even watched the game, explaining he was in Zurich at the time.
Distance from Mourinho’s outburst
The fallout from that derby did not end on the pitch. Jose Mourinho, never one to walk quietly out of a stadium, lit up the post-match press conference with complaints about the refereeing.
Figo, a compatriot of Mourinho but not a cheerleader, kept his distance.
“He did what he thought he would do at that moment. I do not have to comment on it,” he said coolly. “I think these are personal acts, and if he did it, it was because he felt that way.”
No defence, no criticism. Just a clean sidestep away from the noise and the controversy.
Ballon d’Or talk and praise for Mbappé
With the Ballon d’Or voting closing next Monday, Figo was asked to weigh in on the race for the game’s biggest individual prize. He wanted no part of it.
“I do not vote, so this is not on my mind. Those who make the decision are the ones who vote and we have to wait.”
On one modern superstar, though, he did open up. Kylian Mbappé, a name never far from Real Madrid’s orbit, drew rare, unqualified praise.
“He is always at a very high level. He has got us used to being one of the best players in the world and to scoring goals.”
From a man who shared dressing rooms with Zidane, Ronaldo and Raul, that is no casual compliment.
For now, Figo sees a Barcelona side setting a blistering pace and a Real Madrid side forced into early chase mode. The season is long, he keeps repeating. The question is whether Madrid can make it long enough to turn this into a real title fight, or whether his early warning proves prophetic and La Liga is decided long before the spring sun hits the Bernabéu.
