Real Madrid: No matter what, this season has not been a failure

At Real Madrid, there is an unwritten rule that if the club does not win a trophy in a given season, then that season was a failure and the manager must go. It’s a reflection of the kind of expectations and pressure at the club each and every year, but it is not a hard-and-fast rule. And it should not be followed in the case of this arduous, often bizarre, 2020-2021 campaign.

Zinedine Zidane impressed Madridistas when he returned the club and saved Real after a disastrous 2019-2020 season, guiding Los Blancos to a LaLiga title. And this season, he’s had Zizou in a position to compete for the league title heading into the very last Matchday. This is after he took Real to the semifinals of the Champions League despite the club making zero investments or signings of any kind in the 2020 summer transfer window.

And all of this does not even mention the 60+ injuries and absences Real Madrid have suffered this season. No team in Europe has been hit harder by injuries than Los Blancos, with crucial players like Eden Hazard, Dani Carvajal, and Sergio Ramos missing much of the 2020-2021 campaign due to injury.

Yet Zidane and Real have fought in every match. They have made no excuses and have done as Zidane said they would, even when things looked completely bleak; they have competed for the Champions League and LaLiga titles until the end.

Real Madrid’s fight this season would outweigh a possible lack of a trophy

There’s a good chance that even if Real Madrid take care of business this Saturday evening at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano against Unai Emery’s Villarreal, they could still come up empty-handed. Because only a miracle draw or win from Real Valladolid, combined with a Royal White victory over the Yellow Submarine, against Atletico Madrid would send a 35th league title in Real’s direction.

If Real Madrid ultimately fall short and don’t win the title, regardless of how exactly that happens, no Madridista should consider this season a failure. Even if Real don’t take home the prize and fall short of that goal, the reality is that the goal was always a difficult one to achieve, especially when looking at how well Atleti played in the first half of the season.

That Los Blancos cut into that lead in the first place is a huge credit to their grit, determination, fighting spirit…whatever you want to call it. And we know that the man at the very top, Zinedine Zidane, has instilled those qualities into this broken squad that needs a significant upgrade (everyone is hoping for Kylian Mbappe) this summer.

In the end, Real Madrid have made it all the way here. They deserved to be praised for beating the odds and competing for the league title until the last possible day, even though most people had written them off months ago. The way this team has shown resiliency and the way young players like Miguel Gutierrez and Eder Militao have blossomed, you cannot consider the 2020-2021 season a failure. What Real has done this season cannot be measured with trophies. This squad – and this once-in-a-lifetime manager – has found an exception to the age-old rule in Madrid.