Real Madrid won its 35th league title thanks to collective and individual efforts, as well as good management from the bench and during training
Real Madrid thrashed 4 to 0 Espanyol on the pitch of the Santiago Bernabeú and with this result crowned a campaign in which the team has shown imposing collective and individual conditions, as well as other key factors for obtaining its 35th league title.
1. Benzema’s leadership
It is difficult to find a similar mutation in a footballer in the history of football. He went from playing for the rest to being an insatiable scorer (42 goals in 42 games, 26 goals and 11 assists in the League in the 30 days he participated). He from an introverted character to exercising exemplary leadership. The authentic captain and great reference of Real Madrid. The player who stepped forward after the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo which was sued to Gareth Bale first already Eden Hazard subsequently. The fifth in the white club that exceeds the barrier of 40 goals in a season, launched to surpass all records of titles and number of games. The best course of his career at 34 years old. An example.
2. Ancelotti’s challenge met
When the Real Madrid announced the name of his new coach after the end of the second stage of Zinedine Zidane, the surprise was widespread. No one expected the return of Ancelotti. Not even Carlo himself, as he himself has confessed.
It was a success of Florentino Perez and José Ángel Sánchez, general director of the white club, for the profile of the coach who has historically triumphed in the Madrid dressing rooms.
With a philosophy similar to that of Vicente del Bosque o ‘Zizou‘, close to the players as a successful footballer, a good manager of the psychological aspect so as not to have to put out a single fire and find consensus in each of his decisions.
Despite the absence of rotations and having just 15 players on the squad constantly. The challenge of conquering the five major leagues is already yours. The first coach to win in Italy, France, Germany, England and Spain. The technician of the tenth adds a new feat and fulfills the objective that was marked on his return.
3. The growth of Vinicius
LaLiga began feeling the threat of Eden Hazard in his demarcation but quickly showed who deserved the undisputed ownership. The Brazilian has been decisive, his partnership with Karim Benzema the best in the championship and was always the player to look for when you had to create an imbalance in the rival defenses. ‘Vini’ took the step forward that was demanded of him in the scoring aspect, reaching his best mark since his arrival in Spanish football and marking in a single course what he had achieved in the previous three.
With more calm when defining, capturing so much training work in the matches to polish what was his weak point, he has been Karim’s scoring squire with his 14 goals in 38 shots on goal.
4. An imposing physique without rotations
Only fifteen players on the squad played more than 1,000 minutes in LaLiga out of a possible 3,060 in 34 games. Six of them –Courtois, Militao, Alaba, casemiro, Benzema y vinicius-, exceeded the barrier of 2,000. These are numbers that show the little turnover made by Ancelotti and, however, it did not affect performance.
There was a fear that what happened in his first stage would be repeated, especially in his second year, when his team collapsed at the decisive moment of the course when the titles were decided and he was left without winning any. However, despite the crazy calendar and the wear and tear of the internationals in each break, the Real Madrid It is the team that came from behind in the most games, achieving 17 points turning the games around and with physical recitals like the final one at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán, where they buried any hint of a resurrection of LaLiga.
5. An insurance in the goal
The passage of time has led to Thibaut Courtois to the same place in importance in each meeting that Iker Casillas occupied and, later, Keylor Navas. The Belgian’s season places him among the best goalkeepers in the world, always appearing with a decisive intervention at a key moment in matches. Of the 116 shots he received, he saved 90. He kept a clean sheet in 13 games and only a recent bad run, after feeling LaLiga won, prevents him from fighting to be the goalkeeper with the fewest goals in the tournament.
6. The return to the Santiago Bernabéu
An important factor for a blank season to end last year was playing away from Santiago Bernabeu. As much as the Alfredo di Stéfano stadium is inside the sports city, it has never been the home of the first team and the absence of the public was decisive.
Despite the works of the new Bernabeu, the inconvenience for the fans at the entrance, Real Madrid has not failed its team and the stadium’s stands have regained their magic. Despite the slap in the face of the Clásico and four draws on loan against teams with other battles in the competition, the twelve victories signed and the 38 goals scored for the home team, with an average of 2.2 per game, make the team of Ancelotti in the best of LaLiga in its stadium.
7. Eternal Modric
In an unforgettable midfield for Real Madrid, casemiro–Kroos–Modricwhich has found the physical reinforcement of young people like Fede Valverde y Eduardo Camavinga, a figure emerges that has been decisive. At 36 years old, playing better with each passing season, without accusing his age in his brilliant football, Luka Modric has signed a magnificent League. A total of 1882 minutes, two goals and five assists, with the gesture in the outside pass registered in his name, 90% accuracy in the pass. He earned his renewal until he decides to retire in white.
8. The group above the names
The union of a renewed and united dressing room has been key to Madrid’s success. The group above the stars. The transfer of a leadership that exercised Sergio Ramos and now shared by several players like Luka Modric, Benzema, casemiro o Toni Kroos. The situation to which world stars such as Eden Hazard or Gareth Bale were relegated, regular substitutes and with more games without minutes than time on the pitch.
The progressive loss of prominence of a player with a long career in the club such as Marcelo. The little involvement of Luka Jovic. Nothing has altered the atmosphere of the group that has supported every decision of their coach at all times.
9. Visitor’s Fortress
A good part of ‘blame’ for the conquest of Madrid’s LaLiga with a month to go, lies with their strength as a visitor. The team of Carlo Ancelotti he won in all his outings against direct rivals and teams from the top of the classification. Camp Nou, Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán, Reale Arena, Benito Villamarín.
Thirteen wins for two defeats, at the home of Espanyol and Getafe, plus two draws, are a display of undeniable power. He caused the gap with his rivals to grow before those direct hits. Up to 35 goals away from the Santiago Bernabéu, where he found fewer defensive approaches from his rivals, and was able to demonstrate his power with the speed of his game and more spaces to attack.
10. Reaction of strength to blows
Every loss in Real Madrid It generates an internal earthquake, but none of the losses in LaLiga Santander caused a crisis of results that generated doubts within the team and were reflected in the classification. He was a solid leader who, after two absent-mindedness with draws at home (Levante and Villarreal), was warned by his first lost match, at Espanyol’s home in a match that marked several players and reinforced the idea of Ancelotti not to bet on rotations.
The excess of confidence was repeated after the short Christmas holidays, falling into Getafe, and the hardest blow, in self-esteem, was taken in the Bernabéu classic. The walk of Barça (0-4), far from opening an internal gap, caused the definitive reaction to sign a winning streak that sentenced LaLiga to the first change and is already celebrating with four days to play.
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