Real Madrid are through, but have miles to go before they sleep

Real Madrid are through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. But for a beleaguered Zinedine Zidane, there is still much work to be done.

When the final whistle had blown in Paris, Real Madrid fans across the globe began the celebrations. Finally, after a season of letdowns, uncertainty, and disappointment, Madridistas, just like their team in the locker room, had something to celebrate.

Just a month earlier, Madrid were a club in crisis, on the verge of a historic collapse in all three of their main competitions. PSG loomed in the distance as a do-or-die moment, one last chance for Real Madrid to salvage their season, one last chance for Zidane to salvage his Real Madrid career.

After decisively securing passage through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a 5-2 aggregate scoreline, many Madridistas, myself included, finally breathed a sigh of relief. Los Blancos had dispatched with Neymar and his merry men, and Zidane finally seemed like he was no longer a manager in crisis.

But then, a thought popped into mind – Well, not so much a thought, as a poem.

Writing of a rider, stopping his horse for a temporary respite in a snowy wood, Robert Frost opined:

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,But I have promises to keep,And miles to go before I sleep,And miles to go before I sleep."

Promises to keep, and miles to go before we sleep. In one line, Frost encapsulates perfectly both the temporary sense of relief and the impending sense of responsibility now facing Real Madrid.

Yes, Real are through. Yes, Real no longer seem a club in crisis. But Madridistas would be foolish to believe that the task is accomplished, that there are no more hurdles yet to cross, that the road ahead of them is truly any less treacherous than it was a month ago.

For Zidane, the prospect of a season without a trophy still looms large on the horizon. Real Madrid now have five finals to play, two legs of the quarter-finals, two legs of the semi-finals, and a final. Los Blancos will have to take it one game at a time, of course, but the monumental nature of hte task should not be underestimated.

Standing in the way of Real Madrid are a number of tried-and-true Champions League elimination round contenders like Juventus, and (presumably, given the 5-0 aggregate lead they carry into the second leg) Bayern Munich. I won’t even mention FC Barcelona right now, due to the uncertain nature of their tie with Chelsea, but that’s definitely also a thing.

Bayern Munich will be out for revenge against a Real Madrid side that has proven a bugaboo for them in the Champions League of late. Ditto The Old Lady, as Juve have now been defeated by Spanish clubs twice in the past three years: FC Barcelona in 2014-15, and Real Madrid in 2016-2017.

In addition to these power-houses of European Football are the English clubs which are hoping to make some noise in a competition that clubs from the Premier League have not had much luck in in recent past.

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have looked nearly unstoppable this season, despite their unexpected loss in the second leg against FC Basel. If Zidane wants to win a third consecutive Champions League, the student may have to defeat the teacher, as he could be forced to face off against Guardiola, who he studied under while earning his coaching certificates.

Also of worry is Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool. Klopp has got Liverpool playing his brand of “heavy metal football,” and knows how to get his team to rise to the occasion, managing to deal Manchester City their only defeat of the season in the EPL thus far. While at times Liverpool have looked as shaky at the back as Real Madrid, their keeper Loris Karius has now kept a clean sheet in five out of the last seven Liverpool matches, and has more clean sheets than any other keeper in the Champions League.

Winning two Champions League trophies back-to-back was a task that many thought impossible up until last season when Zidane did the unthinkable and guided his club to the first consecutive Champions League victories in the modern incarnation of the tournament. Now, Zidane will be hoping lightening can strike not twice, but thrice. If they win it all, Real Madrid will be the first club to pull off a three-peat in European Competition since Bayern Munich in 1974-1976, back when it was still just the European Cup, and the “Champions League” wasn’t even a thing.

And if Zidane can’t do the seemingly impossible, yet again? The Champions League is Madrid’s only shot at a title this season. Managers at Real Madrid can never rest on their laurels. Florentino Perez will always ask, “What have you done for me lately?” If Zidane doesn’t pull it off, he may be out the door, along with a whole host of players.

Despite the grim prognostics, even with a Champions League exit, Zidane’s fate may not be sealed. Marca suggested that Perez will allow Zidane himself to decide his future at the end of the season, with reports indicating that Zidane has the full faith of the club’s captains, regardless of what happens in the Champions League.

Next: Why is Real Madrid bringing Oscar Mascarell back?

But if he wants to ensure his survival at Madrid with a trophy, Zidane has much work to do. Promises to keep, and miles to go before we sleep.

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