Real Madrid: The Champions of Spain

Just rewind your memory a few seasons back – Cristiano Ronaldo, the best player in the history of Real Madrid, leaves Santiago Bernabeu for Turin. Zinedine Zidane steps down as the manager of Real Madrid. Julen Lopetegui sacked as the manager of the Spanish National Team, took over and experienced a horrendous run. In the middle of the season he was sacked and Castilla’s Santiago Solari took over. He brought on fresh faces, but as soon as the humiliation at Santiago Bernabeu against Ajax ended, he was shown the doors.

No Cristiano Ronaldo.

No Zidane.

Managerial problems.

Demoralized players.

The boss of Real Madrid – Florentino Perez - knew what to do!

He did not waste time in reappointing the man who was not genius as a player, but as a manager, he is also the same.

Zidane returned in March last year and witnessed that his house was at sixes and sevens.

AS claimed that Madrid had ‘no soul’, while former forward Predrag Mijatovic cast considerable doubt on Zidane's future.

The 1998 Champions League winner told El Larguero: “I don't see Zidane capable of finding the solutions Real need for the team to improve”.

After the end of last season, he started working on fixing the team – slowly but steadily.

He rotated players and used various formations according to the demand of the situation and quality of the opposition.

Under his supervision – the future of Los Blancos started to shine – Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo Goes, Fede Valverde, Ferland Mendy, and Eder Militao were striking the right chord. Most importantly, Real discovered the real nature of Karim Benzema, who took the responsibility to lift the Royal Whites as a striker, center-forward, playmaker, and at times, even as a defender. Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Raphael Varane, Dani Carvajal, Isco, and Casemiro were always there to inject creativity and solidity.

Meanwhile, the skipper Sergio Ramos showed time and again what Real Madrid mean to him – he gave his all to bring back the glory days and ensured, Real don’t get trapped in an ugly transition period.

And then, there was that Thibaut Courotis, who experienced a bad start after arriving at Real Madrid, sharpened his focus and skill and proved, he is a Madrid material

The 2019-20 season has been rosy at times while dull in others. But as soon as football returned after the break, it seemed Real vowed to win everything and lift their 34th La Liga title.

They needed a victory against Villareal to seal the title.

Luka Modric put in arguably his best performance of the season.

He was everywhere - Modric covered three positions at once on the right side. He marshaled the team’s press, clogged passing lanes, helped Carvajal defensively, and was a funnel of the team’s offense. He was clinical with passes and floated out of tight spaces.

Casemiro followed.

He and Modric worked well together to take Samu Chukweze (played out of position due to the absences of Carlos Bacca and Paco Alcacer) out of the game. Casemiro’s interventions were masterful, and it was his interception that led to Real Madrid’s opening goal.

Who else but Benzema scored and he scored again from the penalty spot after Real were awarded a penalty for the foul on Ramos.

his 21st league goal of the season and the 13th time he scored Madrid's first goal in a league game this term.

Villarreal pulled one back through substitute Vicente Iborra, through a header from the cross. They had several scrambles in the box after which made things nervy. Thibaut Courtois came up really big.

Real win the La Liga title of 2019-20 season.

Zidane has now won 11 trophies over his two spells and dedicated the title to Madrid's supporters, who could only watch at home as restrictions remain in place due to Covid-19.

“We won the league in the end because we won the most points it's as simple as that," he told La Liga's coverage of the game”.

“Today is one of the best days for me as a professional and after everything that happened, the three-month break, it's fantastic what's been achieved”.

“It's strange for everyone, we can't control the situation, we would have loved to be with the supporters, hopefully, that can happen further down the line but for a question of health that can't happen”.

“But I'm sure the supporters are happy celebrating at home. I say hello to all those supporters watching at home”.

Zidane led Madrid to three straight Champions League titles during his first stint but when asked if this achievement was better, he replied: “Yes, yes”.

“Look, the Champions League is the Champions League but the Spanish league requires such an amount of effort. 38 weeks and effort and at the end of those 38 weeks you have more points than everyone else. It's fantastic”.

Zidane said Madrid's achievement would not be possible if it were not for the entire efforts of everyone in his squad, including those on the fringe who have not featured regularly.

He said, “Well I have my role to play, I believe in the players and I'm just happy for them because they're a group of humans before footballers, they're good people”.

Ramos was in full praise for Zidane. He said, “Everything Zidane touches turns into gold. We believe in him and in his work. He's the one who has to make the difference, he's a person who trusts players, and few do. We hope he stays here for a very long time, he is unique”.

Regarding the title win, Ramos said, “The title is a reward for work, consistency, and balance. What we have done has great value, despite what they may say. Work, when you do it right, is rewarded. There is a lot of merit in winning these 10 games in a row”.

“It was an atypical season, we had to win everything, we did not depend on ourselves at the start. The margin of error did not exist in our heads and we have shown it”.

“These matches cannot be won comfortably. We have 34 Ligas and this is my fifth with Real Madrid, I am very happy”.

Real Madrid suffered and Zidane stated last week, without suffering one cannot achieve anything.

Zidane proved this season, he is not a so-called “lucky” coach, but a smart tactician and hard-working man, who knows how to travel through an angry sea and reach the shore safely.

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 17/07/2020 Real Madrid: The Champions of Spain

Thank You

Faisal Caesar