Real Madrid isn’t the same team anymore which has won the last year’s champions league by beating down the team of Liverpool in a one-sided affair and their recent start to the season, the La Liga has only brought them a list of nightmares to add more into the pain in the process. They are now into a time when they can’t have their record goalscorer, Cristiano Ronaldo, any more and even their coach Zinedine Zidane have parted ways for the club eventually.
Although Real Madrid wasn’t solely dependent on Ronaldo and they still comprise of some world-class players like Modric, Benzema, Bale, and Ramos in their squad, their firepower in front of the goal is something which is making them far away from any silverware this season.
They have been to their worst start in the La Liga and their chances in the champions league also look dim and whilst all this is happening, Real Madrid really needs to do something about the same with immediate effect. Still, it’s not something which can happen overnight and if we talk about their title defense in this year’s champions league, here we are with five reasons which make it tough for them to put their hands on the coveted title.
Reason #1 Absence of Cristiano Ronaldo
The Departure of Real Madrid’s biggest asset Cristiano Ronaldo in the recently concluded transfer window came down as the biggest shock to the Los Blancos and their fans. Ronaldo pursued an £88 million move to the Italian giants Juventus in the Seria A and with this; he left a big void in the Madrid’s striking power for years to come.
Although people might argue that Real Madrid isn’t a team which is solely dependent on one single player, Ronaldo’s big list of goals for Madrid in the past few years speaks itself about the firepower he brought to the Los Blanco’s after his transfer from Manchester United to Real Madrid in the past. Ronaldo has finished as the top scorer in the champions league season past 6 times and within the process, he has made his team Madrid win the title there times. Whilst Ronaldo is not there anymore, Madrid has almost lost the favorite tag for winning the Champions League this time and other teams also have got a chance to dent their hopes of defending their title one more time.
Reason #2 Departure of Zinedine Zidane
Zinedine Zidane was picked as the coach of Real Madrid in 2016 after he replaced Rafael Benitez and that as the time when everyone questioned this act by Real Madrid due to his inexperience and raw credentials. It was just a matter of time when he proved everyone wrong by getting amazing results on board for his team in the process.
A man who has been doubted for his abilities as a coach initially came out to win 9 trophies during his 3 year’s stint as a coach for the club and it was only under him that Madrid grabbed Champion’s league title for the past three times. As of now, Zidane has left Madrid and their new coach Julen Lopetegui also has been sacked quite recently due to club’s poor run under his supervision. Whilst all this is happening in the club, it seems quite impossible for Madrid to do something relevant this season under their name.
Reason #3 Poor Transfer Window
After the departure of Ronaldo, everyone did expect that Madrid would come “ All guns blazing” to the transfer market and look for a similar, if not better, a replacement for their club to go for. But what happened afterward was quite disappointing, for the club and the fans too. The market got rumored with speculations that Madrid would go ahead for players like Neymar, Mbappe, Dybala, Hazard and many more in the process but eventually, they only been able to land average names like Thibaut Courtois, Vinicius junior and Mariano Diaz.
Although they do have a squad which can prove any world class team inferior on any given day, their current state isn’t enough to make them go big against the likes of Juventus, Barcelona, Manchester City, and others. On the other hand, they are languishing at the fourth spot in the La Liga currently and their chances in the champions league also don’t look like brighter as well with the kind of football they are playing as of now. If Madrid really wants to bring on some hope for the rest of the season, they must recruit some big names to their squad.
Reason #4 Their Bad Luck
This might comes down as an awkward reason, but luck has helped Madrid big time in their past matches and tournaments. We all remember that offside goal by Ramos along with that penalty miss by Griezmann in 2016 final, offside calls fiasco in 2017 during the game against Bayern Munich and finally the blunders by Bayern Munich and Liverpool goalkeepers in the 2018 season eventually.
As we say that fortune always favors the brave, even Madrid has been favored a big time by luck along with the qualitative football played their players along all these years. This time, it seems like even luck has parted ways for Berne beau and they have come down to their worst start in years in La Liga history. Although Madrid has entered the last 16 in the champion’s league quite recently, their coming times ahead would require them to go one on one with some big teams forward.
Reason #5 Progression of their Rivals
If we talk about the performance and progression of all the other clubs in the UEFA champion’s league, almost all of them have come a long way in their quest to win the champions league. If we talk about their Arch rivals Barcelona, they are currently topping the La Liga currently with all the brilliance on the pitch by their deadly striking power including the likes of Messi and Suarez. On the other hand, even Atletico Madrid has progressed to higher levels and they are also just points behind the table topper Barcelona in La Liga.
It’s not just about the LA Liga, but teams in EPL and French Ligue 1 has also recruited some of the biggest names in the football world to their pack and whilst Champions league is a place where only the best clubs in the world compete with each other for the coveted trophy, Real Madrid has left behind in terms of development and progression of their team in terms of various aspects. Therefore, it would be called as a wonder if Madrid would still be able to put their hands on the trophy whilst carrying this squad to the knockout rounds of the champions league.
Also, Check:
