Five matches that defined Real Madrid’s 2016/2017 La Liga title campaign

Real Madrid are the 2016/2017 Champions of La Liga. For Madrid, winning the league was never a foregone conclusion. Real Madrid fought hard throughout the season, and came away deserving champions. To review the La Liga campaign, Alex McVey takes a look at 5 matches that define the essence of Madrid’s 2016/2017 La Liga title run.

In chronological order…

Atletico Madrid 0 – 3 Real Madrid – November 11, 2016

In the first Madrid Derby of the season, Real Madrid faced off against their neighbors who they had bested yet again for the Champions League trophy the year before. Atletico Madid had been eliminated from the Champions League three years running by their Madrid rivals.

The La Liga Madrid derby, on the other hand, was a much different story. Before squaring off in November, Real had not beaten Atletico Madrid in the Spanish League since 2013.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick sealed the deal against Atletico Madrid. Ronaldo was enjoying a slow start to the season after suffering an injury in the European Cup finals. But he silenced his critics this match, and even got to show off a new celebration.

By demolishing Atletico Madrid in the cauldron of the Vicente Calderon, Zidane was able to do what Ancelotti had not: find a formula for beating Atletico Madrid in domestic competition. An inability to pick up points in the league against Atletico Madrid hampered the Real Madrid title chase of the past few seasons. This season, though, Madrid would not be defeated by Atletico Madrid in the league, picking up four crucial points in the season’s Madrid Derbies.

This match was also notable because it provided Isco a chance to shine. Isco had not been featuring heavily in Madrid’s lineups, but injuries to Toni Kroos and Casemiro gave Isco the opportunity to prove his merit, and he flourished in this match.

This match also exemplified the 2016/2017 season insofar as it demonstrated Zidane’s burgeoning tactical flexibility. For this match, Zidane rolled out a 4-4-1-1 formation, with Isco playing a free-roaming attacking midfielder role behind Cristiano Ronaldo as the lone striker.

The intense squad rotations that would come to define the 2016/2017 campaign were also on display against Atletico. As I wrote immediately following the match:

"Faced with an injury list that would have made Madrid fans of the 14-15 season cringe, Zidane put his faith in Madrid’s young, deep bench, and was rewarded handsomely… While the idea of facing the disciplined Atléti midfield without the physical power of Casemiro or the tactical awareness of Toni Kroos seemed a daunting task, Mateo Kovačić and Isco slotted in seamlessly, carrying the ball around Atléti’s press with ease. Facing injuries to captain Sergio Ramos and defensive stalwart Pepe, Zidane was forced to rely on Nacho and Rafael Varane. The same young center back combination that had been demolished 4-0 by Atléti in the Calderon in Feburary of 2015 demonstrated a newfound discipline that showed Real Madrid can cope with injuries both at the front and the back."

The match against Atletico was Real Madrid’s first big test of the season, and they passed with flying colors. The fact that Zidane was able to secure this result against a fierce Atletico Madrid team with an injury-ridden Real Madrid squad and a brand new formation is testament to the coaching prowess that got Madrid through the season with the title in hand.

FC Barcelona 1 – 1 Real Madrid – December 3, 2016

The first El Cláscio of the season was an ugly, gritty, and unimpressive match from a Real Madrid perspective. But there was still something special, something season-defining about it.

The match was a sort of tactical chess-match. Madrid came out of the gates firing, and had a clear penalty shout on Vazquez denied. But then Barca grew into the match, controlling possession for much of the first half. Madrid were, for the most part, content to absorb pressure and launch counter-attacks. Madrid then grew into the game, but couldn’t manage to find the back of the net.

Barca dominated proceedings in the second half, pouring upon Madrid with wave after wave of attack, until eventually the levees broke and Suarez put the Blaugranes ahead off a free kick.

The goal seemed to take the wind out of Madrid’s sails, as they lost all impetus to attack and were pinned back by an imposing Barca offense.

Everything changed in the 90th minute, though. Who was the impetus for the change? Who else? Sergio Ramos put his head to a Luka Modric cross in the dying minutes of the game to snatch a point and prevent Barca from getting a crucial league win.

This game exemplified the 2016/2017 La Liga campaign for a number of reasons.

First, and most simply, if Ramos last minute equalizer doesn’t go in, we lose one point and Barca gain two. In other words, if we don’t draw at Barca, Madrid don’t win this title. Simple enough.

Second, this season ensured that Sergio Ramos will retire a Real Madrid legend. While it’s crazy to say this about a defender, Real Madrid owe this title as much to goals from Sergio Ramos as they do from Cristiano Ronaldo. Ramos’ heroics have earned Madrid 9 points, and, in this instance, prevented Barca from getting two crucial points.

Finally, Zidane’s men left it to late to get the job done. Last minute victories and draws were a hallmark of this Real Madrid season.

Without the goals scored in the last 10 minutes of the match, Real Madrid wouldn’t be anywhere close to a title.

Zidane installed in this squad an unparalleled will to win (or, in this case, not lose) . This winning mentality shone through in the last 10 minutes of Madrid’s matches. Knowing that they can come back from a deficit and turn games around by applying pressure in the dying moments of a match is a huge mental boost to this squad.

This winning mentality may be crucially important to Zidane’s men as they get ready for a one-match showoff for the European Championship against Juventus in early June.

Sporting de Gijón 2 – 3 Real Madrid – April 15, 2017

Speaking of last minute winners, this list would definitely be incomplete without Madrid’s late victory against Sporting de Gijón.

Despite not getting as many minutes as both he and the Madrid faithful would have liked, in many ways 2016/2017 was the season of Isco Alarcon.

Nowhere was Isco’s importance on more prominent display than the match against Sporting de Gijón.

Isco absolutely dominated this match, earning himself a perfect 10 rating from WhoScored.

It looked like Real Madrid was about to drop points against one of La Liga’s bottom dwellers. Barcelona had just done the same thing twice, with losses in March against Deportivo La Coruna and in April against Malaga. Real Madrid needed to take advantage of Barca’s slip-up.

Zidane, though, decided to roll the dice with his squad, rotating almost every single player from his typical once de gala. As I wrote following the match:

"Zinedine Zidane made a huge gamble this match, leaving the entirety of the BBC, Keylor Navas, and Dani Carvajal at home. Additionally, Kroos, Modrić, and Marcelo were all left on the bench. Just a week after Luis Enrique’s overly zealous rotation policy may have cost Barca three crucial points in the title race, Zidane decides to go all out with rotations, keeping his powder dry for the upcoming matches against Bayern and Barca. Zidane didn’t just rotate a few players here and there, he rotated nearly everyone. The only true member of Zidane’s once de gala that was on the pitch at the start of the match was Sergio Ramos. Nacho will likely also be a starter for the upcoming clashes, but that is only because of Madrid’s ongoing injury crisis at the back."

This became a characteristic of Zidane’s squad during the last few months of the season. Against La Liga’s bottom half sides, Zidane rarely ever fielded the starting XI that would be played in the Champions League or against La Liga’s top opponents. It’s almost like Real Madrid had a fully functioning A squad and B squad that could each be deployed for different situations.

But against Sporting de Gijón, this strategy almost backfired. Real Madrid had to come from behind twice in this match. And it looked like Madrid were going to be fortunate to escape from Gijón with a single point, until the bandy-legged beauty Isco Alarcon popped up in the last minute of the match to score a beautiful game-winning goal.

Many of the defining characteristics of Real Madrid’s title campaign were on display this match: a dazzling display from Isco, a fully rotated squad coming through when it counts, and a last minute winner grasping victory from the jaws of defeat.

I know it’s strange to say about a match against a team that was ultimately relegated from the Spanish first division, but, in many ways, the victory over Sporting de Gijón was THE defining match of the season.

Real Madrid 2 – 3 FC Barcelona – April 23, 2017

This post wouldn’t be complete without highlighting at least one loss this season.

After all, the story of Real Madrid’s 2016/2017 title campaign was always going to be a tale of, to borrow a phrase from The Dude, strikes and gutters, ups and downs.

Madrid’s April showed them facing down a fixture list from hell, having to face Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich (twice), and FC Barcelona all in the same month.

After suffering a last-minute draw to Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid were starting to fear that their grip on the La Liga title might be slipping away. But then, Barcelona managed to lose against Malaga, failing to capitalize on Madrid’s slip up.

That made El Clasico a match of utmost importance. If Madrid were to beat, or even draw, against Barcelona, the Blaugranes title hopes would have been minuscule at best. If Barcelona wanted to have any chance of winning the La Liga title, they needed to beat Real Madrid at the Bernabéu.

Madrid started strong against the Catalans, with Casemiro opening up the scoring.

But then, a battered and bloodied Lionel Messi decided that he was going to take control of the match and make it his own. Messi was all over the pitch, causing problems for Madrid’s defense and creating dangerous opportunities both for himself and his teammates. With goals from Messi and Rakitic, Barcelona had Real Madrid on the ropes.

A stupid, unnecessary red card from Sergio Ramos after a studs-up tackle on Messi looked like it might extinguish any hope Madrid had of getting back into this game.

But, just like the spring El Clásico from last season, going man-down actually seemed to inspire Real Madrid to play even harder.

A short-handed Real Madrid turned up the pressure on Barcelona, and out of nowhere, Marcelo found James Rodriguez streaking into the box to score a late equalizer.

Here’s where things got really crazy. Remember that will to win I was talking about?

Yeah, well, let’s just say it backfired, massively. The picture below says it all.

For some inexplicable reason, Real Madrid decided that they could win this match, and they were going to throw all caution to the wind in order to get the final victory. Even though a draw would have been a perfectly acceptable, nay, amazing result, Madrid pressed high up the pitch to try to win the ball back. This allowed Sergi Roberto to break past Marcelo (who, if we’re being perfectly honest, was stupid for not fouling him as he ran past) down the pitch.

This eventually set up Lionel Messi for a pin-point accurate strike to snatch all three points at the death. And then, this:

A picture that will leave a bad taste in Madridista mouths for years to come.

It was hard to not feel completely deflated after this match. Real Madrid had the points in hand that they needed to prevent Barca from mounting a comeback, but blew it by getting greedy.

While it certainly felt like it at the time, this was not to be the end for Madrid. Real Madrid still had a game in hand, and while their cushion had gotten much smaller, they could still afford one draw without losing their grip on the title.

The key question at that point was how Madrid would react. Would they allow the Barcelona defeat to get into their heads, or would they demonstrate the mental strength necessary to put the loss behind them and win the matches they needed to win?

Fortunately, it was the latter. Madrid won six league matches on the trot, not dropping a single point in La Liga after the Barcelona defeat.

Champions are defined as much by their wins as they are their reactions to losses. Zidane’s men were able to recuperate following this loss, and do what they needed to do to secure the La Liga title.

Malaga 0 – 2 Real Madrid – May 21, 2017

It all came down to the last day of the season. Having won every other remaining match after the Barca defeat, Real Madrid needed just one point against Malaga in La Rosaleda to secure the La Liga title.

But it was never going to be simple. Malaga’s coach, former Real Madrid star Michel, had turned this Malaga squad around. Malaga were in terrifyingly good form coming into this match, having beaten Barcelona, and then winning four, drawing one, and losing just one match in the lead-up to the Madrid showdown.

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Madrid also had to be wary of the Tenerife curse.  Twice in their past, Real Madrid needed points on the the last day of the season in order to win the league title, and twice in a row, they were denied by the pugnacious squad from Tenerife, who gifted the title to Barcelona on the last match day.

This match was also exemplary of the season, insofar as Barcelona fans were going to whine about it being unfair before the first match whistle was blown.

None of this mattered to Real Madrid, who came to win, and win they did.

This match exemplified Real Madrid in the later stages of the league. They scored early through a Cristiano Ronaldo goal, and although it wasn’t always pretty, they remained in control. The win was never truly in doubt.

This match also was exemplary of Real Madrid’s title winning campaign for two other reasons.

First, it gave Karim Benzema one more chance to silence his haters. Benzema has come under a lot of fire this season. And with a substitute striker as good as Alvaro Morata on the bench, it’s no wonder that fans were beginning to doubt Benzema’s place in the squad after a series of unlucky or lackluster performances. But Benzema scored the second goal to put the icing on the cake. This, combined with his excellent hold-up play in the Atletico Madrid Champions League match, offered Benzema an opportunity to demonstrate that he is still a key player in the squad.

Second, Malaga served as another stop on the Keylor Navas Redemption Tour. After an abysmal start to the season, Navas began turning in one world-class performance after another. His monster save on Sandro’s free-kick goal kept Madrid on top, and allowed Madrid to steady the nerves against a Malaga side that was out to show they meant business.

At Malaga, Real Madrid fans got to watch their team celebrate a season’s worth of hard work and determination. Watching the squad hoist Zidane into the air, knowing that celebrations at Cibeles were immanent, was a truly magical moment.