MADRID, SPAIN - JANUARY 24: Zinedine Zidane, Manager of Real Madrid looks on during the Copa del Rey, Quarter Final, Second Leg match between Real Madrid and Leganes at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium on January 24, 2018 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

MADRID, SPAIN - JANUARY 24: Zinedine Zidane, Manager of Real Madrid looks on during the Copa del Rey, Quarter Final, Second Leg match between Real Madrid and Leganes at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium on January 24, 2018 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

Real Madrid

Real Madrid is burning – How did this happen?

by Barrett Rouen
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MADRID, SPAIN – JANUARY 21: Cristiano Ronaldo (L) of Real Madrid CF and his teammate Gareth Bale (R) in action during the La Liga match between Real Madrid CF and Deportivo La Coruna at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on January 21, 2018 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)

Negligence

To say that Madrid rested on their laurels would be something of a falsehood.  Madrid have been hibernating on their garlands of honor to such an extent that it has allowed them to be overtaken by not simply the usual Barcelona but also Atletico Madrid and Valencia.

Madrid are in many ways the antithesis of Barcelona.  While the Catalan club prides itself on their deep attachment to their roots and to a certain extent because of that their academy La Masia Madrid is the opposite.  The club has always prided itself on its ability to buy talent.

Something they have always done with a ruthless and at times seemingly ridiculous approach to transfer spending.  From Di Stefano to Puskas to Figo to Ronaldo Real Madrid have always been a buying team. They have homegrown talent at times absolutely but make no mistake flexing financial muscle is very much so a part of Madrid’s authoritarian image.

The last time that Madrid truly spent at the top-level was in 2014-2015 when the club spent near 100 million on James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos.  The Colombian isn’t even still with the team.

That Madrid’s dominance came after such a strong period of Barcelona’s is an important thing to note.  During Pep Guardiola and some of Enrique’s reign, their was no questioning who the best team in Spain was.  Sure Madrid won a league in the middle and competed but La Liga belonged to the Blaugrana without a doubt.

For Madrid to be as good as they are now they needed to struggle to break through that Barcelona ceiling.  They needed to be spending 100 million every season and trying to improve, innovate and incubate talent at the highest level constantly.  Then once those players had actually been together for a couple of years and blended they hit the high’s of the past two.

Madrid forgot what made them great and they relaxed into it.

Without Barcelona pushing them as thoroughly and bugging them to be their best selves Madrid got lazy. In the place of buying Ronaldo, Kaka, Kroos, Bale, Isco or Modric came in middling talents or unproven youth players like Vinicus Junior or Theo Hernandez.  The team of the last two years was the fruit of five years ago’s effort.  This years team is the contented and lazy child of last seasons platitudes.

It is said that in football the only thing that you can never do is stay in place.  You can either move forward or backwards.  Trying to maintain position is impossible because the game always changes.  If you’re trying to maintain 10th position the following season you will be 12th then 14th and so on.  Adapt or die.

A man needs a great nemesis or rival in life.  They are the thing that pushes you to be your best.  To work harder, to study more, to be as hungry as hungry can be. Barcelona are that for Real Madrid.  So the fact that Real Madrid’s greatest period of success came right on the back of Barcelona’s shouldn’t be at all surprising.

Madrid did not adapt and they became too pleased with themselves and now they are struggling.

Classically Barcelona are phenomenal again and top of the league by a country mile and a quarter there after.  Real Madrid are rumored to be in the market to spend nearly 500 million pounds this summer.  A sum large enough to buy most other clubs let alone several players.

The rivalry between the two is what ultimately keeps them going.  What would have been truly special for Madrid though would have been to rise above it.  To take it upon themselves to not try to beat Barcelona but their own best.  To beat the record-holding best team in the history of the best club.  That would have been the aim that kept them on course instead of firmly lost at sea.

Instead, they’ve now stumbled.

Madrid will make changes soon in several quarters but they may not recover soon enough to save this season in the way that they should surely have wanted to in the first place.

Next: Zidane

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