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Six games into the 2017/18 La Liga season and Real Madrid find themselves in a spot of bother. The defending champions are down in fifth place and are already seven points behind league leaders Barcelona who have a perfect record so far having won all their games.
After mauling Barcelona 5-1 on aggregate in the Spanish Super Cup, fans expected Los Blancos to stroll to the league title yet again. But Zinedine Zidane's side has been far from their best this campaign. Atletico Madrid, Sevilla and even Valencia have a better record thus far.
So why exactly are Real struggling? Why is Zizou unable to weave his magic?
1) Cristiano Ronaldo's poor league form
Although he destroyed Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup, the sending off saw him lose his cool which led to a five-game ban (including the second leg). The Portuguese star was only allowed to put on the white shirt for Real's fifth and sixth game in La Liga as a result.
While he grabbed a brace in the Champions League and increased his tally of goals in the competition, APOEL Nicosia (Cyprus) are hardly a top quality team to keep him out. In two games, he has failed to find the back of the net against Real Betis and Alaves.
Of course, it is harsh to single out Ronaldo for not scoring in "just two games". But the bone of contention here is the number of shots on goal. Over 180 minutes, the 32-year-old had 18 shots: 13 shots in the penalty area with two coming inside the six-yard box.
In the absence of the injured Karim Benzema, Ronaldo has been deployed as a centre-forward of sorts but he still has a knack of drifting to the left.
This also had a knock-on effect with Marco Asensio playing wider than normal to accommodate Ronaldo's movements and provide him with space to work with.
2) Failure to put away clear chances to score - especially at home
Ronaldo may have been missing in the first four games but that is no excuse for the rest of the squad to miss so many opportunities to score.
Let's look at all the stats where Real Madrid lead La Liga.
1) Key Passes: Real Madrid have made 99. The next best? Barcelona with 64!
2) Major chances created: Real Madrid lead with 24. The next best? Barcelona with 18.
3) Shots on goal: Real Madrid lead with 122. The next best? Barcelona with 85.
4) Clear-cut chances missed: Real Madrid have missed 23 times (the highest in the league this season). In contrast, Barcelona have only missed 9 clear chances to score.
"We had chances and the ball didn’t want to go in. It hasn’t done, especially here, at our ground." - Zidane
This is not the clinical Madrid we are used to seeing. They have averaged 112 goals a season in the last three seasons. And they've only faced mid-table clubs so far.
The fact that they are struggling to do finish chances at home is also a major concern. They are yet to win a game at the Bernabeu in the league this season.
The major culprits are Asensio (20 shots), Ronaldo (18 shots) and Gareth Bale (14 shots). All three have a combined total of just four goals to show for it.
3) Absence of Karim Benzema
With Ronaldo's role switching from a wide forward to a central role, Karim Benzema has also found himself on the periphery of the squad. Gone are the days when the French striker would open the scoring and open the floodgates with his presence in and around the box.
Lately his goalscoring record has taken a hit. He only scored 11 times in the league last season - his worst return since his debut season back in 2009/10. But Benzema is no longer recognised for his goalscoring exploits anymore even though he is technically the striker.
Let's be frank; Ronaldo is the main man at the Bernabeu. He will get the bulk of the chances to put the ball away and Benzema merely plays a supporting role. But that is where he has outshone a number of players at the club.
Real's pre-season games saw a sign of things to come with Benzema dropping deep to act as a fulcrum to facilitate attacks with the wingers advancing ahead of him while simultaneously working with midfielders who could get into the box.
His injury that ruled him out for six weeks could cost Real Madrid as his decision-making and eye for a pass will be missed more than his goals.
4) Why is Gareth Bale ignored by his teammates?
There's something quite odd about the way Gareth Bale is treated at Real Madrid. Once the most expensive player in the world, the Welshman has won three Champions League titles since his arrival at the Bernabeu.
However, the 28-year-old is constantly criticized for his sub-par performances. He has also been on the receiving end of boos from the home fans on a number of occasions.
But it hasn't deterred his focus and he refused to move away from the Spanish club despite clear interest from Premier League giants Manchester United.
"He's a key player in the squad. Gareth is Gareth. We keep working hard and we rely on Gareth, just as is the case with the other players." - Zidane
Although he has the backing of his manager, there are times when the same cannot be said of his teammates. Bale rarely seems to get the ball even when he makes perfect runs in behind the defence.
Asensio's stats provide the ideal comparison since they play on opposite wings but the young Spaniard has made far more touches and passes compared to Bale.
Asensio averages more than 36 passes per game while Bale only averages 27.6. Both players have played the same number of minutes but Asensio has had many more shots on goal.
With the limited opportunities he has received, Bale has managed to make them count. His goal against Real Sociedad proved he is still very much a valuable member of the squad despite his many absences due to injury in the last season.
5) Zidane is changing things too much, too fast
One of Zidane's best qualities as a manager is that he completely rejects the Galacticos philosophy that had been woven into the fabric of the club by president Florentino Perez. They no longer make record-breaking purchases and Perez is happy to allow Zidane to make decisions on the personnel he needs to win matches and titles.
But when up against the wall, Zidane has found it tough to find the right players and also the right system to win all three points. The Real Betis game was a very good example of the French manager sacrificing control to go all-out for the win.
With the scoreline reading 0-0, Zidane surprisingly withdrew both Isco and Luka Modric five minutes apart. He then brought on winger Luacs Vazquez for Marcelo.
Switching to a back-three, a formation he had never used last season, Real's players were unsure of their roles and positional play.
The final stages of the match saw Betis make merry with counter-attacks with nobody in Real's midfield to stop them - which is eventually how they scored as Antonio Barragan supplied a cross for the completely unmarked Antonio Sanabria to score the winner deep into injury time.
Zidane has also changed his lineups a little too often. A degree of consistency is required - especially early in the season - before experimenting with different lineups.
All stats via WhoScored
