All’s not lost yet: Real Madrid’s four worst scoring runs in history

Real Madrid is going through a goalscoring drought having drawn a blank in four consecutive matches. But trust me, there have been terrible runs in the past and going through them might alleviate our pain just a little bit.

At some point in history, there comes a time when a football team struggles to do what it normally does best. A defensive-minded team ends up conceding plenty of goals.

A team with a blistering attacking set-up struggles to find the back of the net. And that’s a case which has currently blighted a team like Real Madrid.

Without a goal in the last four games, the problem of marksmanship has become the single most concerning issue after a dreadful run of results.

It is, in fact, the worst scoring drought in over 11 years. Neither Gareth Bale nor Karim Benzema have been able to do anything about that, adding more substance to the theory that selling Cristiano Ronaldo was a mistake.

But hold on for a second. This isn’t the first time that the club is witnessing something like this. Here are the four worst scoring runs Real Madrid has seen as a club.

#4 387 minutes – 1981/1982 season

People are losing their minds over a goalless run of four games. But, the team of 1981/82 season went one better, and in a more crucial stage that saw them fire a blank in two league games, one UEFA, and one Copa Del Rey game. Imagine that.

Also, Los Blancos almost threw their season due to this, before salvaging some pride by retaining the league cup.

That wasn’t a stellar team like in the 50s, but the likes of Santillana, Juanito, Francisco Pineda, and Uli Stielike nonetheless formed a good team that pushed Real Sociedad all the way in the domestic title race the year before and missed out only by the virtue of an inferior head-to-head record.

Neither of this quartet scored during that patchy run but found their scoring boots before it was too late.

#3 390 minutes – 1975/76 season

Only worse by three minutes, yet occupies an important position in Real Madrid’s history of most disastrous scoring runs. The success of the domestic double the previous season was supposedly taking its toll on the team as it went four games without a goal, while the last of that spell saw a painful European Cup elimination at the hands of Bayern Munich.

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Even La Liga was about to be pinched away due to this as a couple of drab stalemates threatened to open up the race.

Manager Milijan Milijanovic was chided for exercising an unattractive brand of football but soon redeemed himself by retaining the La Liga title as the Whites turned their fortunes around and started firing on all cylinders again.

#2 409 minutes – 2005/06 season

One of the worst seasons of this millennium, Real Madrid, despite boasting some of the most glamorous names in world football, ended the campaign without a trophy. At one stage, they even went four games without finding the back of the net.

An erratic run in the league saw Lopez Caro replacing unpopular manager Vanderlei Luxemburgo, but to little effect as the team continued to go through the motions. Two goalless stalemates to Valencia and Real Betis interspersed between the tame 1-0 aggregate loss to Arsenal prolonged the misery.

And did I mention this was a team that featured Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Raúl, Robinho, Roberto Carlos, and David Beckham?

#1 496 minutes – 1984/85 season

The longest time that Real Madrid went without a goal celebration was more than 30 years ago when this team went five consecutive games without striking the onion bag. FIVE.

That gets even more embarrassing when you consider big guns like Santillana, Jorge Valdano and a young and emerging Emilio Butragueno in the roster.

This one happened during the home stretch of the campaign with La Liga long gone but European hopes still alive. Three stalemates in the league further condemned the side in the table (they finished 5th eventually), and also neared an exit in the UEFA Cup after a 2-0 loss to Inter Milan in the semifinals.

However, the streak was broken at the most crucial moment when the team hit the throttle for the second-leg and pulled off an amazing 3-0 comeback victory and eventually clinched the trophy.

Will there be another fairytale ending this time around too?

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