The most recent Champions League matchday was highlighted by a match between Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain in what was expected to be a hotly-contested clash between two of the tournament's powerhouses.
The match did not disappoint as both teams would split the points in a 2-2 draw. However, what was notable about this result was the fact that PSG were two goals behind after 79 minutes, but staged an unlikely comeback to claim a point. Pablo Sarabia scored the Paris club's equalizer against his former team.
This would never have happened to Real Madrid during their dynastic era spanning from 2013 to 2018. I have mentioned before that I consider the Real team of that era to be the greatest team in the history of club football. Part of what made that team great was the aura of intimidation which surrounded them - it sometimes felt like the opposing team was a goal behind before the match would even begin.
Therefore, this latest result thus serves as evidence that this psychological edge has vanished; it began to disappear after they crashed out of the Champions League in the round of 16 against Ajax last season and has only continued to dissipate since. Not even the hiring of Zinedine Zidane, who had coached Real to three consecutive Champions League titles, to his second stint as Real's head coach could reverse the trend. Real would go on to finish third in La Liga. They would end up a whopping 19 points behind arch-rivals Barcelona, who won the league title. Barça also knocked Real out of the Copa del Rey during its semifinals.
Real spent a massive amount of money on player signings during the past offseason. Los Merengues shelled out €258 million to sign players such as Ferland Mendy, Luka Jović, Éder Militão, and most significantly of all, Eden Hazard. These new signings were expected to breathe new life into a team which had seen its share of struggles during the previous season. However, thus far none of them, not even Hazard, have been able to make significant positive contributions to Real's success. A recent controversial incident that called Gareth Bale's commitment to the club into question has also served to destabilize the team.
Real's performance against PSG could in a way have been considered to be a microcosm of their season so far as a whole. Only Hazard and Karim Benzema played at the level at which they were expected to play. Players such as Casemiro, Toni Kroos, Thibaut Courtois, and Raphaël Varane underperformed throughout.
Real's next sequence of matches leading up to the January transfer window will be of utmost importance. This is because when one considers the club's massive outlay during the off-season, it is not likely that they will again spend large sums of money during the next transfer window. Thus, if Real find themselves in an even more difficult position at the end of December, their odds of winning any titles this season will not be good. For this reason, the upcoming "El Clásico" against Barça will take on even more importance than such matches between the two rivals usually would. Lose that match, and Real could find themselves on the fast track to another season which will end with them finishing empty-handed.
Not many would have expected Real's dynasty to have ended as abruptly as it did. Since then, the club has been attempting to rebuild and re-establish itself as a leading contender for yet another Champions League title. Their multiple big-money, eye-catching signings clearly indicated their intent to do so, but things have not quite gone according to plan at the Bernabéu this season. Although Real had been expected to experience a period of transition throughout this season, most nevertheless expected them to have played at a higher level than that at which they have generally been playing.
Now, it's not as though everything is bleak for Real right now. They are second in La Liga and will likely go top if they win El Clásico. They have also advanced to the Champions League's round of 16 after finishing second in their group behind PSG. However, all things considered, one would certainly have expected better from a club of Real Madrid's stature; right now, it does not seem likely that a fifth Champions League title in seven years will be arriving.
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