Real Madrid: 3 reasons to trust in Zinedine Zidane after 2019-2020

He made Real highly competitive against the odds

Real Madrid came into the 2019-2020 season with so many question marks throughout the starting XI. At the time, fans were concerned about Thibaut Courtois‘ ability to return to being a world-class keeper and had doubts about some of the veteran defenders. Key midfielders like Toni Kroos and Luka Modric were coming off poor seasons, and the attack was no sure thing with only Karim Benzema returning from a healthy and successful 2018-2019.

Los Blancos may have been second in the league when La Liga was suspended, but they were the best team in Spain. They proved it when they defeated FC Barcelona 2-0 at the White House without Eden Hazard, months after outplaying their biggest rivals in a 0-0 draw at the Camp Nou.

In between, Real won the Spanish Supercup, too. They outplayed Manchester City and PSG for most of the 90 minutes before shockingly imploding the last 15 minutes of both games, showing they could compete against Europe’s best teams outside of Spain.

Therefore, Real Madrid were a highly competitive team domestically and internationally. They made strides under Zinedine Zidane, immediately turning things around. They were so much better in both major competitions, even with Eden Hazard as the only incoming superstar in the summer. And they didn’t even get to benefit significantly from Hazard due to multiple injuries.