In the Champions League quarterfinals in midweek, all of European Football was stunned by the emphatic victories of the two La Liga giants.
Real Madrid demolished Tottenham Hotspur 6–0 at home.
Barcelona thrashed Shakhtar Donetsk 5–1 at home.
Both victories had practically guaranteed that the Spanish Super League's two giants would advance comfortably to the Champions League semifinals.
But what shocked everyone was the overwhelming competitive strength displayed by the two Spanish Super League giants behind those emphatic wins.
Tottenham Hotspur and Shakhtar Donetsk were no weak teams. In the round of sixteen, the two sides had eliminated Roma and AC Milan from Serie A respectively. Both were highly competitive teams, yet against the two Spanish Super League giants, they had been beaten without the slightest chance to fight back.
In the Premier League, Tottenham currently ranked fifth. But judging from their clashes against the league's strongest teams this season, whether it was Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, or Man City, none of them had managed to gain much of an advantage over Tottenham. Clearly, the overall strength of this North London side could withstand the test.
Yet at the Bernabéu, Tottenham Hotspur had collapsed completely, ultimately suffering a 6–0 humiliation. After the match, Head Coach Redknapp had no choice but to admit that the game had made him and his team clearly see the enormous gap between themselves and Europe's top teams.
The same was true of Barcelona's home match against Shakhtar Donetsk.
The Champions League quarterfinals had gathered the eight strongest and best-performing teams in Europe this season. Yet Real Madrid and Barcelona had displayed such powerful momentum that many people had begun to sense that this season's Champions League might well turn into a Spanish civil war.
Especially for Real Madrid, who were the defending Champions League