Sporting Gijon's 1-0 victory over Real Madrid this past Saturday has, by Jose Mourinho's own admission, made winning the Liga title this season a practical impossibility. In the Real camp there was hope that this round of fixtures might swing momentum back toward the Bernabeu, with Barcelona facing Villarreal at El Madrigal. The Yellow Submarine holds the third-best home record in the division and played a Barca side without Carles Puyol, Xavi and, for about 60 minutes, Lionel Messi.
Much was made at the start of the season of the size of Barcelona's squad; only 19 first-team players were available to Pep Guardiola. At Real, the opposite was true -- with its full quota of 25 first-teamers accounted for, it was necessary to offload Mahamadou Diarra in January to accommodate Emmanuel Adebayor.
There was never any notion of a promotion from within to cover Real's striker shortage. Mourinho said openly that Alvaro Morata of the reserve team, Real Madrid Castilla, was not ready to make the step up to the first division.
That is one of the defects of the Real that Mourinho inherited. The club has a youth system that produces some fine players, but none of them go on to wear the white of Real. Only Iker Casillas, Esteban Granero and Alvaro Arbeloa in the current squad played in the club's youth ranks, and the latter two had to move to other teams before being recalled to their alma mater.
Barcelona, meanwhile, can simply delve into its own B team to fill gaps in the first-team squad, with youth players allowed to appear nine times in a season for a senior Liga team without being registered to it. Thiago Alcantara is the most recent example, stepping assuredly into the breach against Villarreal.
Youth development is something Mourinho pinpointed when he arrived in Madrid, and during international breaks he is to be found running the rule over his Castilla, C team and juvenile protégées. But for now, there is little he can do but keep scouring the market for players.
This past Saturday, shorn of Cristiano Ronaldo, Marcelo, Xabi Alonso and Karim Benzema -- the creative heart of the team -- Real labored with little cohesion and Adebayor looked as though he had handed a remote control for his legs to a drunk. Real was eventually tripped up by a Sporting side that mustered just a single shot on target.
Earlier in the day, across the Spanish capital, two former Real players combined to tear Getafe apart; Juan Mata provided the ammunition and Roberto Soldado scored four against his former club.
Not all Castilla players are sorely missed after they move on, of course, but a possible 11 of former Real youth-teamers would make a decent enough Liga side:
Diego Lopez (Villarreal): Dislodging Iker Casillas from Real or Spain's sticks is practically impossible so Lopez moved to Villarreal in 2007 in a deal that suited both parties. One Spain cap is a crime against a goalkeeper most countries would pay good money for, were it possible.
Miguel Torres (Getafe): Getafe is a sort of feeder club for Real and some players who make the move across town do return -- Granero and Arbeloa both represented the southern Madrid side -- but Torres, a solid enough right back, is unlikely to shift Sergio Ramos anytime soon.
Francisco Pavon (AC Arles-Avignon): Pavon was one of the last players to come through the ranks at Real and the less glamorous half of president Florentino Perez's much-maligned Zidanes y Pavones experiment. Since Pavon's departure, he is also a large part of the reason that Real subsequently elected to buy defenders as well as midfielders and forwards.
Raul Bravo (Olympiacos): A rare example of a Real defender going on to great things abroad, Bravo is the first-choice left back for the Greek giants.
Ruben Rocha (Mallorca): From Madrid to Mallorca via Monchengladbach, Rocha is well-traveled and a decent enough center half who made a grand total of four appearances for Real.
Esteban Cambiasso (Inter): Swiped from Argentinos Juniors by Castilla, Cambiasso is one of those players filed in the same drawer as Claude Makalele who should not have been sold. Argentina international, Champions League and Scudetto-winning Cambiasso probably doesn't mind too much, though.
Borja Valero (Villarreal): A late bloomer, Valero took the strange career path of a spell at West Brom before being brought back to Spain and widespread acclaim. Only 26, he may yet find his way into a senior Spain shirt.
Juan Mata (Valencia): World Cup winner, Valencia's key player and currently valued at between 20 and 30 million euros. Letting Valencia sign him was possibly Real's biggest transfer blunder of the new millennium.
Tote (Hercules): The controversial Tote, who was taped discussing bribes for other sides during Hercules' promotion season last year, is nevertheless a dynamic midfielder and an on-pitch leader in the Roy Keane mold.
Roberto Soldado (Valencia): Soldado banged a couple in for Real, went to the purgatory of Getafe via a loan at Osasuna and seems to have found his place at Valencia. If Fernando Torres' lack of form continues, Soldado will be in the frame to add to his two Spain caps after a solid first season, and 17 goals, at Valencia.
Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla): The fact that Real had buyback options written into Negredo's deals with Almeria and Sevilla tells its own story. Another player who might feature more for Spain now that Luis Fabiano has returned to Brazil, freeing up space in Sevilla's front line.