The unfinished transition of Madrid

In the same way that it has been the European Cup that has served to build and sustain the winning legend of Real Madrid, the Orejona also allows us to measure how far it is from its own expectations. In their last two budgets, for example, the club expected to reach at least the quarterfinals, but on Friday they fell in the second round for the second consecutive year, something that had not happened for 10 years: when Olympique de Lyon threw them out in 2009 -2010. That culminated six seasons in a row without stepping on the quarterfinals, successively lowered by Juventus, Arsenal, Bayern, Roma and Liverpool.

The evolution of the final table of the Champions League draws the cycles of the greats of the continent and in the case of Madrid it points to an unfinished transition after the summit of the three Champions League, and especially after Cristiano Ronaldo. Already the course culminated with the triumph in Kiev, in 2017-2018, pointed to the need for intervention, after Real Madrid finished the League third, 17 points behind the champion, Valverde's Barcelona.

However, in the club's offices they pointed out two essential difficulties. On the one hand, it is difficult to determine when a winning cycle has come to an end, as is also the necessary bordering of some of its symbols. On the other hand, the financial competition of Premier League clubs, with higher television revenues, and of models such as PSG, financed by states, made it necessary to look for alternatives to hiring bouquets of stars: Madrid has invested tens of millions in young people for make him think they would cost a lot more once done, and he has had conversations about the possibility of launching new championships capable of bringing him more revenue, such as a European Super League. Several factors confirm this transition to be made.

The captain as a symptom. Aside from its real, hard-to-measure effects, the coincidence of the captain's image in the stands in the last two European eliminations, against Ajax and against Manchester City, points to two important issues that focus on the captain. There does not seem to be an alternative or complementary leadership to his, even more marked after the confinement. And two years after Cristiano left, the goal gap that he left has not yet been repaired: precisely Ramos, a 34-year-old center-back, has been the team's second top scorer, after Benzema. Madrid have won the league by scoring 70 goals, the lowest number for a champion since the 2006-2007 season, when the Whites lifted the title tied on points with Barcelona.

Bale's disappearance. On the night of the 13th European Cup in Kiev, Cristiano announced that he was leaving and Bale threatened to leave if he did not regain importance in the team. The departure of the Portuguese and the delay in the arrival of Eden Hazard gave him the opportunity to occupy the entire stage. But the Welshman did just the opposite, and has ended up going from threatening to leave to threatening to stay. He and James, two of the four most expensive signings in the club's history, hired for their influence on the goal, have progressively distanced themselves from him and Zidane until the end of the year, asking not to enter the calls. Bale has scored three goals; James, one. Last summer the coach no longer wanted them on the team. Now, in practice they have ceased to be, but their high salaries block the possibility of alternative operations, especially in the current economic situation.

The pandemic and the market. The coronavirus has emptied the stadiums and that has been a huge blow to the finances of the clubs whose final scope is still unknown. After the salary cut this season, Madrid will have to adjust those of the next, waiting for it to be known when the public will be able to return to the stadiums. For this reason, from the offices of the white club they insist that in these circumstances they rule out hiring in the next market, in which they hope to continue entering with more sales.

Hazard and the future. Under these conditions, the club expects two men in whom they invested more than 160 million euros last summer to bear fruit: Eden Hazard, 29, who has closed his eventful first year with a goal; and Luka Jovic, 22 years old, who has not finished connecting to the group and has scored twice. They also trust that the contribution of bets like Vinicius and Rodrygo will increase; that Valverde, diluted in the last section, confirm what he pointed out in the first. In addition, the future of Mariano and Brahim is pending, outside almost entirely of Zidane's plans.

Courtois and Mendy. They are the part of the succession plan that has worked best. Without Keylor Navas around, the Belgian is already decisive and has won the Zamora, something that Madrid had not seen since 2008 with Casillas. And the French side has been growing: from defensive rock to attack threat.

The League, to the limit. With the transition unfinished, Zidane still managed to extract a league title from a group whose core seemed exhausted and still lacks a spare. A title to the limit: after a confinement that reduced the goal to 11 games, a perspective squeezed by the French coach, while Barcelona burned on all sides. A title that is added to the Saudi Super Cup, but that coincides with the fact that, in Europe, they failed to beat PSG or Manchester City in their double confrontations (three defeats, one draw).