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Los Blancos are the most successful football club in history. They were voted the club of the century by FIFA in 1999, and hold the record for most number of Champions League (13) and La Liga wins (33).
The club has had iconic players of the distant past such as Ferenc Puskas, Alfredo Di Stefano, Raymond Kopa, Francesco Gento, Emilio Butragueno, Hugo Sanchez, and more recent legends like Luis Figo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Raul Gonzalez, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo De Lima, Sergio Ramos, Fernando Hierro but to name a few represent the club, leading to its immense popularity across the globe, as these were and are some of the most recognizable players in the world.
Having won each of the last three Champions Leagues consecutively, and with 14 trophies won in the last five seasons, Real Madrid are in one of the most successful periods in their very illustrious history and has reestablished itself as the premier club in Europe, having derailed in seasons gone by.
However, all golden periods must come to an end, and with the sale of the mythical Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid will enter a process of transition as they seek to adapt to life post-the-monumental influence of their record goalscorer.
Real Madrid might struggle to replicate their recent dominance in the coming season, and here are three reasons why.
#3 The appointment of Julen Lopetegui
Zinedine Zidane shockingly resigned at the end of last season, after guiding Real Madrid to its third consecutive Champions League victory.
Real Madrid unscrupulously (in the eyes of the Spanish football authorities) negotiated with Lopetegui to become Zidane's replacement while the former was still on national duties with the Spain team at the World Cup, announcing him as their new coach two days to the commencement of the Mundial, and leading to Lopetegui's sack as Spain manager.
In today's world of football, players wield an incredible amount of power, and the influence of the dressing room cannot be underplayed, playing a huge role in determining the fate of a coach at a club, and nowhere is this more evident than at Real Madrid.
The Spanish capital club have within its playing ranks multiple 'Galacticos', the biggest players(ego?), with numerous trophies won, endorsements and wages that many coaches can only dream of having. Winning the respect and loyalty of such players as a coach is no mean feat, and any incoming coach must possess a couple of characteristics to earn the instant respect of these world class players.
If he is an ex player, he had to have been one of the very best in his playing days, having trophies and personal accolades to show from his time as a player, in short he should have been a galactico, or close to it (as Zidane himself once was) during his playing days. Coming into a dressing room with such CV as an ex player will earn him the respect of the players as they probably looked up to him growing up, even if his coaching pedigree is yet to be ascertained.
In the absence of a world class playing career, the coach should have a proven record of success as a gaffer, with awards and trophies won in his managerial career (say a Mourinho or Ferguson), the players will feel honored to be trained by such a legendary manager, and he will have the instant respect of the dressing room (although factors later could contribute to him losing it).
Carlo Ancelotti had both features, while Julen Lopetegui boasts neither of these, he had a below par playing career as a goalkeeper, mostly playing as a backup during his time at Real Madrid and Barcelona, and winning just a solitary cap for Spain.
He has also had a moderate coaching career till date, yet to win a major senior trophy since his managerial career began in 2003 (although he won some continental titles as coach of the Spain age grade teams).
Also, his appointment at Real Madrid represents his biggest job until now (there is probably none bigger), and although there are exceptions such as Guardiola at Barcelona and Lopetegui's immediate predecessor Zidane, of novice coaches succeeding at their first jobs in a huge club, those examples are rare and both Pep and Zizou had the advantage of knowing the inner workings of the clubs, having played there as regulars for many years.
History has shown us that the technical-know-how and politics involved in managing clubs of such gargantuan proportions require prior experience at similar clubs, which Lopetegui does not have.
Lopetegui has arrived at the most notoriously volatile coaching job in the world. With the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, he has lost a player who would have made his job easier, and Real Madrid could struggle alongside their manager to come to grips with the harsh realities of meeting their challenges next season.
#2 The core of the team is ageing
Most of the players in Real Madrid's current first team are world class, and while that is a wonderful position that most teams aim to be in, it is a problem for Real Madrid.
All the success recorded in the last five seasons has been achieved by using a tight core of unchanged players, with almost no addition or subtraction to the starting lineup. No Galactico has been signed since James Rodriguez in 2014, with Zinedine Zidane optimizing performances from his existing group of players.
The starting lineups for both the 2017 and 2018 Champions League final were exactly the same, while players like Bale, Asencio and Lucas Vasquez were quality additions off the bench.
However, like the law of diminishing returns, after so many years of elite performance, there must be a time for a decline. Most of Real Madrid's core players are either approaching or are past the wrong side of thirty. The now-departed Ronaldo is 33, Sergio Ramos is 32, Keylor Navas is 31, Benzema is 30, Modric is 32 while Gareth Bale is 29.
While it might be a tad hasty and rash to dismiss Real Madrid's chances on virtue of the age of its players, the bottom line is that every cycle must come to an end and replace with another.
However, Real Madrid seem to have gotten stuck with this generation, and much like Fiorentino Perez' first Galactico experiment, there is nowhere else to go with these players but down.
#1 Ronaldo's departure
No prizes for guessing this one right. Ronaldo departed for Juventus in a shocking £100m transfer at the beginning of July after nine years of extra-terrestrial performances from the Portugal record goalscorer.
Ronaldo became Real Madrid's record goalscorer in just 6½ years, obliterating the record it took the iconic Raul Gonzalez 16 seasons to set. He left Real Madrid with an astonishing goal ratio of over a goal scored per game.
His departure will leave a huge void that will be difficult but more likely impossible to fill, as nobody else (bar Messi) can deliver as frequently on the biggest stages as Ronaldo did.
It's not just the goals that go with him, but also that charismatic presence, the aura of being one of the greatest players of all time which usually gave his teammates a lift, and spurred them to up the ante even when the tides were against them.
Transitions from legendary players (like Henry at Arsenal) or coaches (Fergie and United) are rarely transient, and most times, the clubs in question feel the impact of losing such an iconic figure, and since Ronaldo is as iconic as they get, Real Madrid could find themselves struggling owing to his departure.
