5 potential after-effects of a bad Real Madrid season

Is it too early to call the current goings on at Real Madrid a crisis? Perhaps. After all, every team has to lose at some point, even the mighty Real. But last season saw them go unbeaten in La Liga until January, and during that period they only had four draws, too, one of which came against Barcelona.

This time, they’ve already drawn twice and lost twice too – once to lowly Girona – and it’s only October. Moreover, they have yet to even play either Barcelona or their other large rivals, Atletico Madrid.

In the Champions League, meanwhile, while last season they only lost one game – the second leg of the semi-finals against Atletico after the tie was effectively killed by a 3-0 Real victory in the first leg – this time they’ve failed to beat Tottenham on two occasions, losing 3-1 last night in what was an embarrassing performance for Europe’s self-styled biggest club.

There’s no reason why Real can’t get themselves out of this funk if their biggest players hit top form – and they still have others like Gareth Bale and Raphael Varane waiting to return from injuries too – but assuming they have a bad season, what could the ramifications turn out to be? Here are five possibilities.

#1 Zinedine Zidane could lose his job

Zinedine Zidane's head could be on the block if he fails this season

It was always a risk from Real’s brass to hand the keys to the Bernabeu to Zinedine Zidane. The Frenchman is obviously a club legend, and ranks as one of the best players to ever kick a ball. But as a manager he was completely unproven at the top level when he took over from Rafael Benitez in January 2016.

The risk seemed to pay off, though, when Zidane led his side to the Champions League title that May, and then went on to secure a Champions League and La Liga double in 2016/17 – his first full season in charge.

If Real end up failing this season, though, will the Madrid bosses really show much patience with Zizou? If you go by the club’s history it’s highly unlikely. Few clubs show such little patience with their managers as Los Blancos, and much bigger names in management than Zidane – the likes of Benitez, Jose Mourinho, and Carlo Ancelotti have all been dispensed of in ruthless fashion when they failed to live up to expectations.

Those expectations? Well, they tend to be that the club win every possible trophy, in entertaining fashion too.

If they were to fire Zidane – and failure to win either La Liga, the Champions League, or both would pretty much guarantee that – who could they bring in as his replacement? Well, Real’s bosses may have glimpsed the future during last night’s loss to Tottenham.

Mauricio Pochettino has done a tremendous job at Spurs and has already been linked with Barcelona. If he were willing to leave Tottenham – a big question mark given his great relationship with all there – he’d surely be the top candidate to replace Zidane.

#2 The end of the Cristiano Ronaldo era

Could a bad season signal the end of the Ronaldo era at the Bernabeu?

Since signing with them in the summer of 2009, Cristiano Ronaldo has become one of Real Madrid’s all-time legends. Real broke the world transfer record to bring him to the Bernabeu and he’s paid that fee back in multiples, scoring a crazy amount of goals – he’s averaged over 50 per season – and helping them to win two La Liga titles and three Champions Leagues. At Madrid, he’s established himself as the best player in the world. But if this season becomes a failure, can the Ronaldo era at Madrid really continue?

Father time waits for no man and Ronaldo turns 33 in February, and so by anyone’s standards his time left at the top of the game is probably limited. Nobody is suggesting he’s past his prime just yet but he’s clearly lost some of the explosive pace he had when he was younger, and his haul of 42 goals last season – still impressive – was the least he’d scored since his debut season in Spain. The problem for Real may come in actually finding a way to ease him out.

While he’s at the club, simply put, Ronaldo will always be the focal point. Look at the furore caused when Gareth Bale signed for Real, with the media focusing purely on whether he could co-exist with the Portuguese star.

Even if his powers genuinely begin to wane it’s hard to see him at the Bernabeu playing second fiddle to anyone. A bad season this time, and Real could decide to jump off the Ronaldo train, cash in on him – perhaps looking to Manchester United for the sale – and look to bring in a new megastar to replace their ageing legend.

#3 The power in European football may shift

Teams like Manchester City are waiting in the wings to seize power from Real Madrid

Go back a decade in European football and the Premier League was clearly on top; England’s top division arguably reached its peak in 2008, when Chelsea and Manchester United contested the Champions League final. After that period, Barcelona clearly took over and dominated under Pep Guardiola.

Since Guardiola departed Barca though, the power in European football has clearly been with Real Madrid. They’ve won three of the last four Champions Leagues and play host to many of the world’s best players.

If they have a poor season in 2017/18, though, and end up coming away empty-handed, it could signal that the power in European football is once again shifting. Nothing lasts forever, just ask Barcelona – and so the end of Madrid’s dominance may well be upon us.

It could even be the case that people point to the Tottenham loss as the moment in which Real were finally knocked from their perch. If that is the case, which club might take over as the dominant power?

Well, most fingers would point to the Premier League. England once again has the most money within its clubs and with five sides thriving in the Champions League this year, the chances of the big trophy heading back to England seem pretty high. Manchester City, in particular, have looked phenomenal under Guardiola, and after their win last night nobody would count out Tottenham.

But perhaps the power could instead shift to France and Paris St. Germain. The big-spending side has, arguably, the best frontline in the world with Neymar, Cavani and Mbappe, and have scored 17 Champions League goals so far while conceding none. It almost sounds Real-esque.

#4 Real could clear out some big names

Big name players like Gareth Bale could be sold if Real fail this season

Whenever a big club suffers a season of failure, the finger of blame inevitably ends up being pointed at someone. And while the buck tends to stop with the manager, a lot of times players end up being culled too – either to make way for new ones signed by the new boss, or simply because they’re deemed as being part of the failure. We’ve already discussed Ronaldo, but who else could be on the chopping block?

Well, Gareth Bale for starters. The Welshman has already come under a lot of criticism from the Spanish media and Madrid fans alike, and while he’s had some fantastic displays in the Bernabeu he hasn’t quite lived up to the hype he once had as Ronaldo’s long-term replacement. And he’d still fetch a monstrous transfer fee if Real did choose to sell him, particularly if a potential suitor came in from the Premier League.

Elsewhere, Madrid have such an embarrassment of riches that it’d be easy to sell a handful of big players without truly weakening the team, while also making plenty of money in order to bring new blood in.

The likes of Karim Benzema, Luka Modric and Raphael Varane may all end up reaching the end of the road at the Bernabeu should the side fail to live up to expectations this season. A clear-out at Madrid could well be what the side needs to freshen itself up in order to look to climb back to the top of the mountain in 2018/19. Basically, at a club the size of Real, nobody is truly safe.

#5 We could see a Galactico move in the summer

Making Dele Alli the next Galactico could rejuvenate Madrid if they flop this season

Traditionally, Madrid’s answer to any issues has simply been to throw money at the problem – go out and buy the best players in the world to show the other clubs exactly who the biggest bully in the playground is. The biggest moves – the signings of Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo and Beckham in the early 00’s, and then the captures of Kaka and Ronaldo in the late 00’s – came under president Florentino Perez, and unsurprisingly the club remains under his rule.

While the big money moves these days seem to be being made from the ultra-rich Premier League clubs – as well as Arab oil-rich Paris St. Germain – all it would take would be a swift move from Perez, and the power in terms of transfer spend could easily switch back to the Bernabeu. If they were to clear out some big names like Bale and Benzema, then the justification for a big-money move would become even easier.

With a season of failure behind them, who would bet against Real making an insane move for one of Europe’s top players – or top prospects – in the summer? Only a fool, basically. Names like Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Paulo Dybala and Eden Hazard have already been linked with Los Blancos, but who’s to say they couldn’t make an outrageous move for someone like Paul Pogba or Kylian Mbappe?

Granted those players are both at huge clubs who would be reluctant to sell – but the same could’ve been said years ago for Figo, Zidane and Ronaldo. With Real Madrid, nothing is impossible.