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This is unthinkable… or was unthinkable—wasn’t it? By the end of last season, even the staunchest of Zidane-out frenzies were mum. They knew that their mouths had been stitched and saying anything against a manager that got them the double would be nothing but blasphemy.
However, time changes faster than the speed of light sometimes—and that is what has happened with the Blancos. The manager that has won 5 trophies in one calendar year with his team is now having to face scrutiny because his side hasn’t performed well for four months.
Ah, cruel freaking world. The onset is done and now for the real causes—here are 5 reasons why Zidane could be sacked this season…
#5 Losing to Barcelona
The thing about Zinedine Zidane is that he has not yet lost to Barcelona except for that one time when Lionel Messi decided to mess with the Frenchman’s unbeaten record and score in the final minute of the game.
This is obviously about the one where he took off his shirt and showed his name off to the Bernabeu—a goal that, in the end, didn’t matter. After that, however, the Frenchman has had a 100% win record against the Catalans, but now faces them in a difficult moment.
Already 11 points behind in the league—albeit, with a game in hand—it could be claimed that this is a do or die scenario for the Galacticos. Assuming that the lead isn’t insurmountable already, losing it would put the Merengues back by 14 points from the top of the league, which would almost certainly kick them out of the title race.
And put a nail in Zidane’s coffin.
#4 Final table position
In accordance with the previous slide, losing to Barcelona would actually put Madrid at the risk of moving out of the top four spots. While this might not even come up as a possibility in the minds of many fans due to the fact that this generation doesn’t actually remember the last time that has happened, this could actually happen.
Right now, many are conveniently denying the existence of Valencia and Atletico Madrid sandwiched between the two giants. Guys, Real Madrid are actually fourth on the table—which, in December, is a big thing.
While first-placed Barca might be 11 points away, 5th place Sevilla are only 2 points behind the Galacticos and have a real chance of toppling the Madrid giants, despite the fact that they got rampaged 4-0 in their last meeting.
As of now, Zidane’s main target should be getting back in a respectable position in the league—and a failure to do so might just see him get the axe.
#3 Champions League run
The UEFA Champions League is Real Madrid’s competition. Indeed, even in the years where they did terrible in the league, coming 3rd in the 2013-14 season and out of the top 4 in the 1997-1998 season, they won the UEFA Champions League to make the fans forget about the final place in the table.
However, this time around, not even their performances in the grandest club competition in Europe is giving fans any reason to be hopeful. After losing to Spurs at Wembley and subsequently drawing the mighty Paris Saint-Germain, the Madridistas are not too expectant about their team's chances in the Champions League.
Zidane might just survive if he doesn’t do well in the league, but a failure to go deep in the Champions League might see him get the sack sooner than anticipated—and with the trio of PSG firing on all cylinders, this seems like quite a possibility.
#2 Not strengthening in the window
There is an image of the Galacticos that oozes ‘we have a lot of money and we spend it on the players that we want to sign, so off with you’ and that is something the club has been trying to erase over the last couple of seasons.
However, they might have taken that overboard in the last summer. They sold Alvaro Morata for a club record fee, let go of James Rodriguez on loan for a peanut of a buy-out clause and also sold Mariano Diaz to make things even worse.
Now, they might have signed some quality players in the window in the likes of Dani Ceballos and Theo Hernandez, while also retaining both, Marcos Llorente and Jesus Vallejo on loan, but they completely ignored some glaring crevices in their squad.
One of which was the lack of striking options in the team and this was due to an…
#1 Over-reliance on Karim Benzema
This might be the ultimate reason for the World Cup-winning former French midfielder to get the axe by the end of the season. Karim Benzema, the fourth-longest serving player at the club, is perhaps the club’s biggest weakness now.
It is actually about how he has lasted this long despite being so close to leaving the club in his first two seasons. However, his contributions can’t be denied. He has sacrificed his entire career for Cristiano Ronaldo, serving him the best he could, which, in retrospect, also served the club.
But now, his fall from grace has been so bad that it is also taking the club with it. Even when he didn’t score, he ensured that the tempo in the attack was stable with his crisp and elegant passing. Now, however, even that is missing as he has the third-worst successful passing rate at the club.
But still, Zidane insists on not only playing him, but also on not signing a striker in the January window because he has utmost faith in his compatriot—something that could cost him his job.
