Marv Ukorebi| 18 August, 2017|
Real Madrid has become the best
team on the planet and only looks to be stronger than ever at the start of a
new season, highlighted by a 5-1 aggregate beatdown of Barcelona using a mix of
weakened lineups that featured 23-year-old Mateo Kovacic in both legs, received
only about 25 minutes of Cristiano Ronaldo and witnessed Gareth Bale, Casemiro
and Isco left out of the starting XI of the second leg.
Yes, Real Madrid is currently good
enough to rotate a squad against Barcelona and still win both the home and away
legs.
It was only 2015 when the roles
were reversed and even the most erudite of football folk believed Barcelona may
be the best (attacking) side ever constructed, while Madrid was a mess on the
sidelines despite winning the 2014 Champions League.
In June of 2015, after a week of
honoring and celebrating Spanish legend Xavi Hernandez, the man that dutifully
took responsibility of being the heart of the midfield, Barcelona completed its
second-ever European treble with a Champions League final win over Juventus. Of
course, Xavi’s departure changed Barcelona’s identity, but the new Barcelona
was still good enough to leave Real Madrid in disarray into the following season.
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti
had been unceremoniously booted from the club despite winning La Decima, and
Neymar, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi continued forward to play at the true
dominating heights of historic football. Could Barcelona become the first team
to repeat as European champions, maybe even do a double-treble? In the era of
statistics, seemingly every match provided yet another record to marvel about.
Every Barcelona match felt like living, breathing history.
It was November of 2015 when the
Catalans went to the capital and drubbed Real Madrid 4-0 at the Santiago
Bernabeu. With the smell of champagne still detectable in the earliest of days
of 2016, newly installed manager Rafa Benitez was canned in what will probably
be seen as the greatest move in the history of the club due to the man that
came in to carry the club.
In the face of critics questioning
his managerial experience, Zidane went nearly two months unbeaten to start his
tenure. After suffering his first defeat in his first Madrid derby, a player
who lost the World Cup final after head-butting his opponent sounded like a man
that had suffered the worst failure of his life. Zidane’s passion was
undeniable.
Still, Barcelona looked invincible.
Zidane arrived at Barcelona’s
doorstep to take his first shot at the champions with the Catalans having run
their unbeaten stretch to a staggering 39 matches. The streak did not reach 40,
as Real Madrid won 2-1 and Barcelona never touched history again. Ironically,
it was a spring day that when the M-S-N incarnation of Barcelona began its slow
decay. Over the two weeks that followed Zidane’s visit to Camp Nou, Barcelona
lost three of its next four matches and got eliminated from the Champions
League by Atletico Madrid.
In an instant, the dream of being
the first back-to-back winners in the Champions League era was gone.
Instead, Zidane stole that history
and made it his, as he steadied a ship that had been uneasily swaying and
crashing about in the rocky waters with captains being thrown overboard at the
first sign of trouble. With the way he has managed the club since, Zidane could
end up being the greatest navigator of all time, and that’s not hyperbole.
In his first half season, the
Frenchman won 23 of 27 matches across all competitions and won the Champions
League. In fact, he only lost La Liga by a single point after erasing a
double-digit Barcelona lead by winning the final 12 matches of the domestic
campaign.
As an encore, Zidane gave Real
Madrid its first La Liga title in five seasons, claimed the Club World Cup and
became the first manager to win consecutive titles in the Champions League era.
Over the span of the year and a half Zidane has spent on the sidelines, the
Frenchman is the unquestionably the best manager on the planet considering his
achievements.
Frighteningly, with every passing
performance, his Real Madrid team looks like it’s getting even better.
After Wednesday’s routine Spanish Super Cup victory, Real
Madrid’s scoring streak improved to 68 competitive matches with a goal. That
streak includes every match of the 2016-17 campaign and goes back the previous
season’s Champions League semifinal against Manchester City at the Etihad.
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