Real Madrid fans learned plenty from the 2019-2020 season, but what has been the most important takeaway?
Before the 2019-2020 La Liga and Champions League campaigns were postponed, Real Madrid sat in second place in domestic competition and were very much alive in the Champions League despite falling 2-1 to Manchester City in the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Many of the takeaways from the season thus far aren’t surprising. Real have quality spread across their roster, the club still needs a world-class scorer to help Karim Benzema, and there’s work to be done before becoming the best team in Europe again.
However, the biggest takeaway for Real Madrid is a positive one. It’s that they are not only back on track under Zinedine Zidane’s leadership as a highly competitive team in Spain and Europe as a whole, but they’ve also taken great first steps to returning to being THE most dominant team in the continent, potentially as soon as 2020-2021 with the right attacking signing.
First, their youth inspires the most confidence in an elite future. Martin Odegaard was a revelation for Real Sociedad and could play for Madrid as soon as 2020-2021. Takefusa Kubo, Dani Ceballos, Andriy Lunin, Sergio Reguilon, Achraf Hakimi, and Oscar Rodriguez are all talented young players who shined on loan in 2019-2020. Hakimi and Reguilon were particularly impressive and will be difference-makers next season.
Secondly, the defense couldn’t be more impressive. No team allowed fewer goals in La Liga than Los Blancos, who were neck-and-neck with Liverpool as Europe’s best defense. Thibaut Courtois has returned to being in the discussion as the world’s best goalkeeper, it’s difficult to argue against Raphael Varane and Sergio Ramos being the best center back pairing, and Dani Carvajal is still a great right back despite some lapses. With Ferland Mendy, Reguilon, and Hakimi already breaking out and the future bright for new center back Eder Militao, this is a defense to fear.
And that’s not even factoring in how great Real Madrid are at defending as a team under Zidane. Even the likes of Eden Hazard and Vinicius Junior in the attack are important in the overall defensive work. Real’s defending has been more holistic than ever, with so many hard-working players. Most of all, midfielders Casemiro and Fede Valverde are elite in this regard, with Casemiro being the undoubted best defensive midfielder in world football.
The attack is coming together with Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior making strides, a healthy Hazard set to return, and a healthy Marco Asensio to act as a cliched “new signing”. Again, as long as Real find one more difference-maker, they could be just as loaded in the attack as in defense, with a world-class midfield of Isco, Toni Kroos, and Odegaard or Luka Modric ready to set the table.
Real Madrid have nearly all the pieces in place – save for one more top scorer, preferably a wide forward – to be the best team in Europe. They have the right balance of youth, veteran experience, and superstars like Courtois and Casemiro in the primes of their careers. Zidane is the perfect person to lead the way as a three-time Champions League-winning manager, thus Madridistas’ biggest takeaway from 2019-2020 has to be that a return to dominance is coming their way.