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It is shaping up to be the week that goes a long way in deciding the Real Madrid season: from Tuesday, April 6 to Wednesday, April 14.
That is when Zinedine Zidane’s team will play the quarterfinals of the Champions League against Liverpool, with a Clásico at home against Barcelona in the middle of the two legs.
Winning the tie and the league game and talking about doing the double will rise to levels unimaginable when they were in the dumps earlier in the season.
The timeless quality of Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Casemiro and Karim Benzema, and the form of Thibuat Courtois have been behind the recent good results. And the return of Sergio Ramos, Rodrygo and Fede Valverde from injuries are the basis of the new confidence in the season that ends much better than expected in the middle of the period.
Real Madrid became Spain’s sole survivor in the Champions League this week and, with 11 games remaining in the national competition, they are still not completely out of the title quest.
It will take two teams above them to fail, that’s true. But Atlético de Madrid seem to have little confidence after their training with Chelsea. They have lost 11 points in the last eight games and have seen Madrid and Barcelona reduce their lead.
The latter are the other obstacle for Zidane’s team. Atlético de Madrid could lose the six points that Real Madrid would need to overcome them, but Barça will also have to be wrong.
But Zidane has told his players to remember last season if they need a reason to believe. When LaLiga returned after blocking, there were 11 games left and Madrid were two points behind.
They beat Barcelona at the top by winning 10 of those remaining matches and tying the last one. If they repeat that showdown this time and that includes beating Barcelona on April 11, then it will certainly keep the pressure on Atlético and if they fail to recover from their Champions League exit they could lose the points that allow Madrid to overtake. they.
Not everything in Zidane’s garden is rosy. Eden Hazard’s problems continue and there is now pressure from Belgium for the player to take more drastic measures to overcome persistent injury problems. The club has ruled out surgery and still believes Hazard can return before the season is out and make an impact.
But coach Zidane almost seems to have gotten used to not having him available and Vinicius continues to grow in confidence. Despite losing a babysitter to Atalanta, she has been given some credit for seizing the opportunity with a clever dribble. And another run into the area caused the penalty that put the tie beyond doubt.
Madrid are not favorites to win the Champions League and Liverpool will be a tough test in a competition in which they thrive, despite an abject national campaign. In the race for the title of Spain they are third favorites.
And it is clear that if they want to recover the aura of yesteryear, they will have to mold a team from the current diaspora of young players who have on loan at Arsenal (Martin Odegaard), Milan (Brahim Diaz) and Getafe (Take Kubo) among others, or find the right way to spend big this summer and get Erling Haaland, or player Florentino Pérez has really put his heart into Kylian Mbappé.
But from the ashes of a somewhat mediocre season by his standards, a genuine opportunity to win something has emerged.
Modric is 35, Ramos is almost 35, Benzema is 33 and Kroos is 31. But his fitness levels, aside from Ramos’ recent knee problems, are off the scale. They were the strongest players in the competition in the last 10 games of last season and they look good to go the distance once again.
With his old band of dependables, Zidane knows that Madrid are not yet a spent force in terms of this season’s loot.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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