Real Madrid were second in La Liga and behind in the Champions League Round of 16 when the 2019-2020 season was suspended, but their championship window is already opening again.
If the 2018-2020 season was a clear sign that Real Madrid needed to make swift changes before they risked turning into La Liga’s Manchester United, the 2019-2020 season was an encouraging sign that Real are already on the way to rebounding after losing Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus.
Los Blancos outplayed their biggest rivals in the league, never even surrendering a single goal to FC Barcelona or Atletico Madrid across five matches. They demolished Barcelona in the second Clasico of the season 2-0, which speaks volumes more than their standing in second place when the league campaign was suspended due to a pandemic.
Real Madrid weren’t expected to win trophies in 2019-2020 in their first year of a “Revolution” after a woeful 2018-2019 campaign, but they were absolutely competitive in La Liga and the Champions League. Therefore, Zinedine Zidane is already putting the club on the right track.
And their championship window in both Spain and Europe is beginning to crack open again. Next season, their young stars, such as Vinicius Junior and Fede Valverde, will be even better. They’ll have even more great young talent in the side, with fullbacks Achraf Hakimi and Sergio Reguilon returning from loans after being the best players at their respective positions in their respective leagues last season.
Furthermore, Real Madrid will likely have one more big name in the attack, perhaps Erling Haaland or Sadio Mane, to aid marquee 2019 summer signing Eden Hazard. A healthy Hazard himself would go a long way to helping Los Blancos, who looked unstoppable in November before the Belgian’s first injury.
Speaking of returns from injury, sharp-shooting Marco Asensio‘s return to the lineup from an ACL tear cannot be underestimated as another big “addition” to the 2020-2021 team.
There’s still a chance Los Blancos win a title in 2019-2020 if the season resumes, but there are a couple of big “ifs” there.
But in 2020-2021, Real Madrid will be the favorites to win silverware. Barcelona’s grip on the league is slipping, with Lionel Messi doing his best to carry a team that is marred by dysfunction in the board room, to the point where they have even tried feuding with Messi and the players.
Meanwhile, Real are a model of consistency. They didn’t need to be gifted a star player from a relegation side at midseason. Instead, they didn’t make any major moves in the face of injury to Hazard and kept on plugging away, winning the Spanish Supercup. It is Real Madrid who have the most envious collection of young talent in Europe, with loanees like Martin Odegaard, Oscar Rodriguez, and Takefusa Kubo shining brighter than anyone else on their respective teams in 2019-2020.
Another rich period of trophies in Los Blancos’ storied history is about to begin, and, like the most recent period that ended just two years ago, it will be Zidane leading the charge in the manager’s seat.