Real’s annual revival forces their critics to eat humble pie again
IT’S THAT familiar time of the season when the Real Madrid juggernaut hits full speed and looks almost impossible to stop. It is incredible how they rise to the challenge every season. It is also a recurring theme that boss Zinedine Zidane seems to come close to losing his job before turning things around in spectacular fashion – which then normally results in them winning a trophy or two. They trailed favourites
Barcelona by two points when last season was halted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Once football resumed after a three-month lockdown they won ten games on the bounce to wrap up the title with a point to spare.
This season they lost at home to Cadiz, Valencia – a bottom-half-of-thetable team nowadays – relegation candidates Alaves and Levante.
They also lost at home and away to Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions
League and were dumped out of Copa del Rey by second division Alcoyano.
They just about scrambled out of their Champions league group by beating Borussia Monchengladbach. Anything less and they were out. Zidane just about survived.
Fast forward to the present and they have now suffered one defeat in the last 20 in La Liga and clawed back a huge deficit on Atletico Madrid (as have Barcelona) to trail by one point.
And what a week Real Madrid have enjoyed, beating Liverpool at home, winning a Clasico and drawing 0-0 at Anfield to book a Champions League semi-final against Chelsea.
When they are toiling, the same questions arise. How long will Real stick with the likes of Dani Carvajal, Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane, Luka Modric, Casemiro, Toni Kroos and Karim Benzema? Is Zidane too loyal? Is he good enough tactically or just a good man manager?
Each season we get the same answer to leave the critics eating every word but I still have reservations about what they can achieve this season. I have no doubt they have the quality, experience and class to triumph in at least one competition but fear at some stage they could be running on empty.
A lack of depth in the squad – which is Zidane’s choice – is making it a real slog for the older members of the group who are having to play every single game in this congested season.
Injuries are frequent and fatigue must be setting in – as the last half hour of the Clasico showed. You have to question the wisdom of allowing Martin Odegaard and Luka Jovic to go out on loan in January.
Zidane will be desperate for the return of Carvajal, Ramos and Varane at the back and Eden Hazard, whose return is imminent, to hit the ground running. With ten must-win games in 36 days Zidane needs the extra bodies. n IT’S another Copa del Rey final this week with Athletic Bilbao’s second final appearance in three weeks.
They lost the first 1-0 to Real Sociedad in last season’s delayed encounter, the result of what proved sadly futile hope supporters could attend the first ever all-Basque final.
Tomorrow, Athletic Club take on Barcelona meaning Real Sociedad will relinquish their first trophy in 33 years after holding it for a fortnight.
‘You have to question the wisdom of letting Odegaard and Jovic leave Madrid on loan’