Sacred champion of Spain in July, Zinédine Zidane's Real Madrid set off again on Sunday (9 p.m.) in San Sebastián to attack La Liga in the face of weakened competition, to achieve a double that has eluded the Merengues for more than ten years.
Impossible mission?
No Real Madrid coach has managed to win the Spanish Championship twice in a row since Leo Beenhakker in 1987 and 1988, and the White House has not won the national crown twice in a row since 2007 and 2008. Yet , it is to conquer this double that Zizou's Real Madrid will set off, in a position of favorite to his own succession.
An almost perfect transfer window according to Marca
Although they stumbled against Manchester City in the round of 16 of the Champions League on August 7, the Madrilenians left La Liga with a medal around their neck on July 16, in the image of a Zinédine Zidane worn in triumphed by its players.
And a formidable impression of omnipotence released: the Merengues have chained ten victories and a draw in the last eleven La Liga matches played between June 16 and July 19, after confinement.
Despite the pandemic which has also affected the portfolio of the second most revenue-generating club in the world (EUR 757.3 million according to the Deloitte 2020 ranking, behind FC Barcelona), to come back even stronger, Real Madrid has achieved an “almost perfect” summer transfer window, as Marca, Spain's best-selling newspaper, called it on Saturday.
"It will be hard, it will be long, but we want to defend our title"
Zinedine Zidane
Zidane has recovered the young Ukrainian international goalkeeper Andriy Lunin (21), called to be the understudy of Thibaut Courtois this season;
he recalled the young Norwegian playing master Martin Odegaard (21), who will meet his former Real Sociedad teammates on Sunday in San Sebastián;
and kept the backbone of his team which won everything in the final sprint of the last championship.
In addition, Real have managed to get rid of complicated files, like Gareth Bale, one of the team's biggest salaries (around EUR 30m per season), on the way to return to Tottenham, or James Rodriguez , sent to Everton, who hardly played anymore.
And the Merengues have signed a judicious loan policy, sending young nuggets Takefusa Kubo (19), Reinier (18), Brahim Diaz (21), Dani Ceballos (24) and Jesus Vallejo (23) respectively in Villarreal, Dortmund, AC Milan, Arsenal and Granada.
“It's true that we have a very similar group, but it's a group with which we won.
And in a beautiful way.
This year, maybe there is only one recruitment, the return of Martin (Odegaard), but we all want to take up the challenge once again.
There are a lot of things that are being said, that we are going to redo with the old people, that there are no changes ... but we must be ready.
It will be hard, it will be long, but we want to defend our title, and we will do it with envy, ”ZZ assured Saturday during the first press conference of the season.
Weakened rivals
A very serene summer, far from the turmoil that shook its main rivals in the La Liga title race.
FC Barcelona has experienced one of the most serious crises in its modern history, with, in order: the dismissal of Quique Setién and the arrival of coach Ronald Koeman, the threat of departure from Lionel Messi, the motion of censure that places President Josep Maria Bartomeu on an ejection seat, the legal proceedings initiated by Setién ... and an upheaval of the collective which is slow to materialize.
Atlético Madrid, not very active in the transfer window, did not make headlines this summer after its elimination in the quarter-final of C1 against Leipzig (2-1).
The colchonero club has above all been talked about for all the cases of coronavirus identified within the workforce: five cases among the players of the men's first team, many others among the women, and especially the positive test of the club totem trainer Diego Simeone.
In this regard, Real were rather spared: only Mariano Diaz tested positive at the end of July.
Despite the physical glitches that mar the resumption of Zinédine Zidane's men (Hazard, Asensio, Mariano, but also Odegaard, Vazquez, Jovic and Isco are all uncertain for the first match), Real resumes the competition in the skin of undisputed favorite to his own estate.
Having not played a warm-up match (apart from a training matchup against Getafe), this poster for Sunday in San Sebastian will be a real life-size test from the outset for Real Madrid, on the highway to reconquest of his crown.
"This year, we will have opportunities to accomplish certain things if we train well, if we want to, and if we play as a team as we did last season when we came back from confinement", Zidane added.
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