Real Madrid, unstoppable no more?

After winning three out of the last four Champions League tournaments, it seemed like we were heading for an era of Real Madrid dominance. In April, Cristiano Ronaldo was playing some of the best football of his career. Isco seemed like a sure-fire future Ballon D'or winner. Marcelo was the driving force behind the Real Madrid pseudo defense-into-offense attack. Zidane looked like he was set to stay for years to come.

That was all six short months ago. Now, we're lucky to see Ronaldo score a goal a game without whiffing on five shots before hand. The La Liga champions are currently 8 points behind leaders Barcelona; who are considered to be at their weakest point as a team in the last decade. After 10 games, Real has allowed a lackluster 9 goals to Barcelona's 3. Fans at the Bernabeu are already calling for legend and head coach Zinedine Zidane's sacking. Over the summer, Real Madrid decided that they were going to invest in youth and not make any big signings to support the defense as there were threats from the current players that they would leave if they signed anyone "big name". President Florentino Perez wanted to sign Giorgio Chiellini, formerly of Juventus, but captain Sergio Ramos said that if he did it would start a mutiny within the club. Now, it seems as though not signing anyone may have been a mistake.

Real Madrid's most recent disappointment is losing 3-1 against the Tottenham Hotspurs at White Hart Lane. Real Madrid lacked complete composure and the defense was in tatters. The day after the game people were begging Florentino to sign Spurs star striker Harry Kane before getting back on the team plane! Real Madrid need their star players to step up, players like Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale are not doing their part. Granted both of them have seen the injury bug come their way this season, it is still is not an excuse when they are healthy, on the pitch, and still not producing any goals. Things need to change at Real Madrid, and fast. Whether it is a different style of play, or line up change, Zidane needs to do it before he finds himself sitting in the stands with the rest of the angry fans.

-Pharaoh (@Adam_Borai)

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