Real Madrid take on Las Palmas after two consecutive defeats to Girona and Tottenham Hotspur. Can Zinedine Zidane get his Real Madrid team functioning again?
It’s been smooth sailing for Zinedine Zidane during his tenure at Real Madrid thus far. Two seasons, two Champions League trophies, and a La Liga trophy to boot. Easy-peasy, right?
There have been plenty of times that Real Madrid have looked entirely unconvincing during Zidane’s reign. Zidane has been questioned as lucky, and tactically naive.
But even when the football wasn’t passing the eye test, the results didn’t lie. For a while, Zidane had more trophies at Real Madrid than he had losses.
But now, it’s safe to say that Zidane is facing his first true crisis as a Real Madrid manager. Losing to newly promoted Girona while Barcelona is steamrolling through La Liga was a catastrophe. And then getting walloped by Tottenham in the Champions League, the tournament that defines Real Madrid as a club, just added insult to injury.
Zidane as a manager last season inspired his players to incredible last-minute comebacks. Contrary to the myth of his tactical flaws, Zidane found tactical schemas that allowed him to rotate Real Madrid’s players while steering the club to a double.
This season, Madrid seem to have lost that edge that made them look unbeatable, even when they were down goals chasing games at the end of matches. Las Palmas gives Zidane an opportunity to prove that he can begin to manage Los Blancos out of this crisis. He has won himself a good degree of deference, but all managers at Madrid inevitably feel the hot seat sooner or later.
The Bernabéu will certainly be a feisty place. Real Madrid’s fans are known for making their disappointment in players and managers very clear. If things don’t go smoothly early on against Las Palmas, the whistles and jeers could start to make the Bernabéu a very hostile atmosphere for Madrid’s own players.
Las Palmas have been poor this season, and are currently sitting in the relegation zone at 19th. Zidane’s men should be able to dispatch this team easily, but that was also true of Girona, and Madrid failed in their task.
The match won’t be easy. Madrid still have a lengthy injury list, and while the likes of Bale and Varane have been training, there are still serious questions about whether they will be fit enough to start against Las Palmas.
Zidane will have to try to find the right combination of tactics and motivation to get his players through this rough patch. Also, players like Marcelo, Isco, Modric, and Benzema have ben slightly underperforming in the last few matches. And Ronaldo is still going through one of his worst goal-scoring starts to a season. These players will all need to step up if Madrid wants to find their way through this crisis.
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