I am still shocked at the improvement from this team in a year. Just last year, it looked like the team had a long way to go. 3 managers in a year. Defense looked very bad, worse in the last 10 years at least. Sergio Ramos and Benzema looked like they were finished. Varane seemed to be out of the door and looking for a new challenge. Courtois looked like a flop. Casemiro looked complacent and bad. And Perez’s failure to keep Cristiano and Zidane was looking like his demise. Last season gave me 2004/05 vibes.
A season where Perez got 3 managers in a season, where we got eliminated in the Round of16 of Copa del rey and Champions League, and Second in Laliga. The following season looking somewhat worse and it led to Flo Perez leaving Real Madrid and Calderon being our new President. I thought 2019/20 season would look the same considering the defense wasn’t improved as much as we hoped and Zidane seemed to have stuck with Benzema yet again despite his poor form last season. Bale was still in the club, Asensio went down with an. Anterior Cruciate Ligament and no real RW was bought to replace Asensio. But boy was I wrong!
This team completely proved us wrong. Zidane again works his “Black Magic” and “Luck” to put us right at the very top of the league and world football. A wonderful resurgence of Benzema’s and Ramos’ career with the 34 Year Old defender having arguably one of his best seasons, officially putting him in the conversation for the greatest defenders of all time. Benzema singlehandedly led the attack and proved his worth. With Hazard going down and Bale not getting love from Zidane, it looked like the attack would be the same as last year but Benzema became more Clinical and retained his old big daddy Benz form back and led us to a very difficult laliga win. Casemiro was another bright light. Last season, He was often caught out of position leaving the defense scrambling. But this season his improvement is visible and Casemiro is back to being the best Central Defensive Midfielder in the world. And Courtios. Wow what a signing. This goalkeeper has completely proved his doubters wrong and that 30 million looking like a real Bargain. The 6’6” giant becomes the first ever player to win the Zamora trophy with the 2 Madrid sides. Arguably one of the best Goal Keeper in the world, the improvement he has shown between the sticks has helped Madrid scratch out those close wins with that double save in the last minutes against Villarreal being the highlight. Courtois’ path of resurgence is inspirational and a path i think Hazard will follow and prove his worth next year.
Shoutout to the Vini and Rodrygo for improving and being more mature this year. It will be a joy to watch the Brazilians run in the heart of opposition’s defense in the future. Shoutout to Kroos and Modric for being classy and great yet again. Modric at 34 is still very fun to watch. Shoutout to Mendy, the best signing of the summer and already one of the best LBs in the world. Mendy’s signing has helped change our defense with Mendy being one of the toughest defensive fullbacks in the league. Mendy didn’t have as much impact offensively as Marcelo usually has with the defender racking up only a goal and 2 assists in laliga (game winning assist to Benzema against Atletico) but he was rock solid in the back and Ramos didn’t have to cover for him after every attack. Looks like the perfect replacement for Marcelo. Varane took off and put his injury woes aside, just like Carvajal. Fede Valverde is another bright light with the young midfielder establishing himself as a very reliable player in tough situations with his versatility and maturity on the field in such young age. Shoutout to Nacho and Lucas for being the perfect role players and doing what they are supposed to do whenever they are om the team sheet.
But not everything was great this season. This was a season to forget for Hazard who is having a very hard time to settle in Laliga. I believe in him tho. I am sure he will come back stronger next year just like Courtois did. Bale was again not important. He seems to have lost his passion and is just collecting checks with Zidane having 0 faith in him. Isco was very bad. Isco’s magic and flair has seemed to go away. The midfielder has to give more if he wants to be in the club for longer. James is in the same situation as Bale, with the midfielder asking Zidane to not put him on the team sheet. He will most likely be out of the team this summer. And Luka Jovic has been another disappointment. Zidane doesnt know how to properly use him in the system but Jovic’s off field antics has been a very bad sign for the player and his future at the club. He will most likely leave at the end of the season too.
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We have have a lot of time to talk about improvements but for now, lets focus on the Uefa Champion League second leg against Man City. Without Ramos, it will be a very tough game but if theres one team that can come back from a deficit like that then its Real Madrid. Hala Madrid!
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