Just a couple of weeks back, I wrote about the unusual defensive side to Real Madrid that led them to creating a new record of 40 games without a loss. The previous record was 32 under Carlo Ancelotti, who remains Zidane’s friend and mentor. The run was broken by Sevilla who played the game of their lives to beat the LaLiga pace setters.
Some pundits have argued prior to the sudden loss to Sevilla that the quality of Madrid’s run is questionable when compared to that of their bitter Catalan rivals Barcelona who went 39 games unbeaten between October 2015 and March 2016 on their way to winning the league and Copa Del Rey titles. Real Madrid won 30 games, drew 10 and scored 115 goals during their record breaking run. Barcelona had won 32, drew seven and scored a whopping 120 goals during that run.
While there are always varied opinions in football regarding teams’ efficiency, performance and from; the fact is that a 40 game unbeaten record is phenomenal in a league such as the Santander LaLiga. Real Madrid’s performance under the guardian of arguably one of the most accomplished midfielders in the history of the game should be acknowledged for that – it was brilliant!
Been beaten by Sevilla (a team I reckon to be among the best in Europe) is not a thing to be ashamed of and Los Blancos need to move on and respond positively afterwards. They didn’t manage to do that!
The loss away to Sevilla should ordinarily be hard to swallow. But the defeat at the Bernabeu to less illustrious Celta Vigo three days later was real jolt and a kick on the jaw! Two defeats in two matches after such a great run will immediately call to question the set up at Capital Club.
With Malaga visiting on Sunday before the second leg of the Copa del Rey; Zindane and his men have their work starkly cut for them. They must don’t win those two matches and convincingly if they don’t want to be so pressured at the top of the table and then bundled out of the CDR!
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