Coping with La Liga and UEFA Champions League
The last time Real Madrid won two successive league titles was way back in 2008 when Los Blancos went all the way in 2006-07 and 2007-08 under Fabio Capello and Bernd Schuster respectively. There’s a realistic chance that Zinedine Zidane will become the first Real Madrid manager since Leo Beenhakker (who won 3 successive La Liga titles between 1986 and 1989) to win successive league titles.
Barcelona are going to rebuild their squad from scratch. Although they have a lot of talent at their disposal, they are definitely going to start La Liga as the inferior of the two El Clasico teams. With all due respect, it’s hard to imagine Barcelona winning La Liga next season, even if Lionel Messi stays put. However, football is unpredictable and you never know what can happen. Regardless, Zidane would be smacking his lips as they could exploit Barcelona’s state of being in a rut and go all the way to achieve their 35th La Liga trophy.
As for the Champions League, their recent record has been diabolical. They have failed to go past the Round of 16 since 2018. The manager and the players would be desperate to get rid of this blemish and reinstate their status as the ‘undisputed Kings of Europe.’
With the team looking well-balanced, Real Madrid, and Zidane in particular, would fancy themselves to play joga bonito and emerge as a club that every other club in Europe fears once again. We are talking about a team that won four Champions League in five years between 2014 and 2018, and a coach who has been knocked out a just once out of the thirteen knockout ties.