Football Season Guide

Real Madrid had a trophyless season in 2020/21, which is always viewed as unacceptable. But, the performances weren’t actually so bad and they took the LaLiga title race down to the final moments of the final day, as well as reaching the Champions League semi-finals. Because the performances were decent, even if the overall results weren’t, Zinedine Zidane wasn’t sacked. Nevertheless, he walked away and Real Madrid were left scrambling for a replacement, eventually settling for former coach Carlo Ancelotti. Ancelotti was at Real Madrid between 2013 and 2015 and won a Champions League title, but that was a long time ago and with a much better squad than the current one. Real Madrid have a lot more youngsters and far fewer stars now. They’ve even lost both of their starting centre-backs this transfer market, with Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane both departing. The arrival of David Alaba covers one of those voids, while Real Madrid hope Eder Militao can kick on and thrive as a starter in his third season at the club. Central defence could be a weakness, then, especially as they still only have one holding midfielder to protect the back line in Casemiro. There is decent depth at most positions, but not at Casemiro’s. When he’s out, there is no reliable backup. Real Madrid, therefore, have a weaker squad than they have had for some time. However, their main title rivals have weaknesses too and Ancelotti usually has his teams challenging for or winning the league title, no matter where he has been. They should, then, still be very competitive in 2021/22.