No club has been successful in defending its Champions League title in past two decades but Real Madrid look capable enough to make the history this time around.
It is a feet achieved by no other club of Europe. Ever since the change of format in 1992, no club has been successful in defending its Champions League title. AC Milan was the last club to become European champion on two successive occasions but ever since the change in the format, no club has managed to achieve this success but current squad of Real Madrid look capable enough to create the history.
The European Cup was started with the initiative of then management of Real Madrid in 1955 and they went on to become champions for next 5 consecutive seasons, a record which is still unbroken. And president Florentino Perez would expect his players to have this yet another record on their name as well.
And coach Carlo Ancelotti also believes that achieving this feet is the target of Real Madrid this year. Speaking to the club website at the start of this season in August, Ancelotti said that: ai???This Champions League win is not the end of a cycle, it is the start of one. We have a very young and high quality team. We have players who will improve next season, such as those who arrived this year; Illarra, Iscoai??i??”.
“This cup motivates us to be better next year. Previous years have provided motivation and strength to the team because of negative experiences. It’s not easy reaching three semi-finals in a row and not playing in the finalai???.
ai???The eleventh European Cup brings with it various problems. The first being extending the Santiago BernabAi??u trophy cabinet. We have a very good future, a great squad. The base is very strong and I like itai???.
FC Barcelona, Chelsea and Bayern Munich are touted as the biggest challengers of Real Madrid at the moment and if we look at their current form and team strength, the Los Blancos squad looks more balanced. All these clubs have problems of their own and the strength of Real Madrid make them favorites to win their Una Decima this year.
FC Barcelona have made an excellent start to their La Liga campaign as they are on top of the table. The Blaugrana have the likes of Messi, Suarez and Neymar in their attack but their midfield still looks unsettled while no improvement is visible in their backline. The defence of Barcelona was brutally exposed by PSG in their Champions League game and like last year, this is going to haunt them in the later stages of the tournament.
Chelsea made some impressive signings during the summer transfer window and the side looks in fine shape at the moment as they lead the Premier League table. But they still look far off from other big guns of Europe.
Josep Guardiolaai??i??s Bayern Munich certainly have a squad full of world class players while they also have at least two quality players for every position. However, it appears that Bayern Munich squad is continuously struggling with the injuries to its key players this season and Guardiola has find it difficult to maintain the right balance this season.
These key deficiencies in their biggest competitors make Real Madrid the favorites to win their Una Decima this season.
The Real Madrid management made some interesting changes in their squad in summer transfer window after winning much awaited La Decima. The club sold the likes of Alvaro Morata, Xabi Alonso, Diego Lopez and Angel Di Maria amid much controversy while the likes of Toni Kroos, James Rodriguez and Kaylor Navas were brought in to improve their last seasonsai??i?? third place finish of La Liga and to maintain their success in Europe.
The management of Real Madrid was criticized for its decision of getting rid of Xabi Alonso, and more particularly Angel Di Maria. Both these players were the key members of Real Madridai??i??s La Decima winning squad last season and this criticism looked justified at the start of this season when Carlo Ancelottiai??i??s new boys struggled to make an immediate impact.
With the departure of both, Di Maria and Alonso, and long term injury of Sami Khedira, Carlo Ancelotti opted to play James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos with Luka Modric in the midfield but this new looking trio looked vulnerable as they failed to develop understanding between them. But if we look at the performance of this trio in past few weeks, they all look much improved now. Real Madrid has now started dominating games like they used to do last year.
Another reason for Carlo Ancelotti for being optimistic is the growing impact of Isco and Asier Illaramendi. Both these Spanish youngsters were signed by Real Madrid last year but they both failed to justify their hefty price tag in their debut season. But both are featuring regularly this season and their performance levels look much improved too. The improved confidence of Isco was evident in a game against Levante on this weekend as he performed extremely well.
Meanwhile, the only concern of Ancelotti at the moment is that of leaky defence. Real Madrid did not made any defensive enforcement in the summer transfer window and their back four have made some costly errors, particularly on set pieces. The likes of Sergio Ramos, Pepe and Varane have looked uncomfortable on many occasions as the club has conceded maximum number of goals through set pieces only. Carlo Ancelotti has expressed his concerns openly on more than one occasion and immediate improvement is required.
Ancelotti is an experienced coach and he is expected to find a solution for this concern sooner than later. And Real Madrid will be the team to put your money on to defend its UEFA Champions League title for the first time in tournamentsai??i?? history.
Image Courtesy: RealMadrid.Com
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