Do Real Madrid play better without Cristiano Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane's tactics?

Real Madrid has played 3 La Liga games in the post-Cristiano era. They have had 2-0, 4-1 and 4-1 scores in their favour against Getafe, Girona and Leganes respectively. They started with almost a second-string side against Leganes, but have since fielded strong lineups in the following games.

The departure of three-time Champions League winning duo of Zinedine Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo had cast some serious doubts over Los Blancos' season. The controversial appointment of Lopetegui and the failure to find a worthy replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo didn't help the case either.

When Real Madrid lost their first competitive fixture under Lopetegui, people even went to the lengths of writing off Madrid for this season and terming them as the next Milan.

But the fire and desire that the Whites have shown in the Liga has forced the naysayers to take them seriously. They started strongly against Getafe and hardly allowed them to have any decent opportunities on goal. Against Girona, they struggled in the first half but pulled the game back strongly in the second half to take 3 points convincingly. In their latest encounter against Leganes, a team which knocked them out of Copa del Rey last season, they displayed a breathtaking passing game, dominating a huge chunk of possession and passing the ball in a fluid manner.

These three games, especially the one against Leganes gave a glimpse of how the gameplay is going to be this season under the new coach. The passing, changing of flanks, pressing the opponent in their own half, fluid through balls, crossing from the flanks and the pace of Asensio and Bale on the wings, all look perfectly orchestrated in a musical symphony.

The introduction of Isco as a substitute yesterday and his skilful twisting and turning inside the opponent's box and his know-how of creating spaces and passing lanes is what Lopetegui admires. Benzema, who scored 5 league goals in 31 games last season has already scored 4 goals in three games this season. He is looking like a player who can be a fox in the box and a passing option for the midfield at the same time. Bale is justifying the faith Real Madrid have shown in him. He has looked sharp since that Champions League final in Kiev. Real Madrid already have a golden trio in midfield in the form of Modric, Kroos and Casemiro.

The biggest question mark that was put on the Bernabeu based club was whether they would be an attacking force to reckon with after Cristiano moved on; 10 goals in 3 games seems to be a good enough answer.

One more thing that the Madridistas can be relieved about is the Cross and Pray tactics are gone. The players seem to have been instructed to break the defensive lines from the middle. Gone are the days when Marcelo used to swing his boot at the ball and pray for it to somehow reach Ronaldo's head. Real Madrid had 78% possession against Getafe with 91% passes successfully completed. These stats are staggering for a counter-attacking team like them.

Benzema is playing freely without an additional responsibility to supply to the Portuguese. The addition of Courtois has given an added competition to Navas who will have to give his best to continue being the first choice keeper for the Los Vikingos.

Summing it up, it looks like Real Madrid will enjoy the absence of Cristiano rather than missing his services.

Edited by Prathik R