How Real Madrid built a European dynasty
Real Madrid have been, as all champions are, lucky to win three consecutive Champions Leagues, but off-pitch changes have played a major role.
One of the popular narratives following Real Madrid’s third consecutive Champions League win on Saturday is that they have dominated thanks in large part to an extraordinary streak of luck. They were lucky Neymar missed the second leg of their round of 16 tie against PSG with injury; they were lucky Michael Oliver awarded them a penalty in the last minutes of their quarterfinal tie against Juventus, after they had thrown away a 3-0 lead; they were lucky Sven Ulreich gifted them a place in the final with an awful error in the semis; and they were most certainly lucky Loris Karius handed them the trophy-winning goals in Kiev. And that’s just this season’s competition.
Los Blancos have been lucky, as all champions are. But as the cliche goes, you make you’re own luck, and there are, if you’re willing to look, reasons this team have so often gotten the rub of the green. Madrid have reached the semifinals an unprecedented eight times in a row. Only Bayern, who have reached the last four in seven of the past eight years, come close to that record. (The Germany side’s one pre-semifinal exit came at the hands of, you guessed it, Real). It’s a staggering run of consistency, and under Zinedine Zidane, Madrid are now reaping the benefits.
The Frenchman is an understated piece in this puzzle, but there’s more to Zidane than some give him credit for. While the legendary former midfielder has been heralded for his man-management and communication skills, he’s more than just a motivator and although he may lack tactical nous, he more than makes up for it in other aspects of the game.
Arguably the biggest changes Zidane has made at Madrid have come in training. Fatigue was often cited as a reason for why a team would never retain the Champions League. When Zidane arrived at Real Madrid in 2016, among the first comments he made about the squad concerned their fitness: “physically, we need to improve a lot.” That summer he hired Antonio Pintus, his fitness coach from Juventus. Pintus, a former athlete, has gained quite the reputation for his love of running and endurance exercises, earning him nicknames such as “the Whip” in Spain and “the Sadist” in London.
During the 2016-17 preseason, Pintus finished every session with a half-hour run and much of his training exercises were focused on athletic exercises. “I like to run, but I cannot play football,” said Pintus during his time at Marseille. “Technique makes the difference, in my opinion. But if you have two champion teams at the same technical level, the one who runs faster will be the best. Talent is the base.”
His methods have proven successful. He had won 16 trophies before joining Madrid and has only added to his glittering CV since joining the capital side. He has also been hired by several former players who worked under him despite many, including Zidane, hating his training sessions as players. Among Pintus’ responsibilities as fitness coach is helping Zidane with his rotation policy, a deciding factor in Madrid’s double last season and their dominance in Europe.
Over the last three years, Real Madrid have played nearly 20,000 minutes spread over 168 games. During this run, 14 players have played nearly 60 percent of those minutes, with some, like Toni Kroos and Cristiano Ronaldo, playing over 11,000 minutes with Real Madrid alone since 2015. Six of the 14 players have played over half the minutes available to them in that same period.
Many of those players have also featured for their countries, with two Copa Americas, a Euros, a Confederations Cup, World Cup qualifiers and a whole host of friendlies in between that. Nonetheless, the squad have remained fresh heading into the crucial second half of the season, with many of the starters peaking during the Champions League knockout rounds.
Zidane can take credit for these changes as they’ve meant that the weaker, tactical side of his game hasn’t been exposed due to the pure individual excellence he has available on the pitch. With victory in Kiev, Sergio Ramos has now captained Madrid to three Champions League titles and brought his personal tally to four. Although his detractors will say otherwise, the defender has consistently delivered world-class defensive displays in the late stages of the Champions League. His affect on the rest of Madrid’s defensive line is clear when he’s out of the lineup.
In midfield, Zidane possesses among the greatest duos of all time in Kroos and Luka Modric. Thanks to their unnatural athleticism and Pintus’ fitness scheme, both players have been able to rack up staggering number of matches in a system that relies on them plugging gaps without showing signs of fatigue.
There’s very little left to be said about Ronaldo. His legacy as the greatest Champions League player of all time was placed beyond all doubt on Saturday. He has now won more Champions League medals than anyone and is comfortably the competition’s leading goalscorer. Though he was denied a goal in Kiev, Los Blancos owe a lot of their success to the Portuguese’s excellence and, should he indeed leave Real this summer, he would leave the club in very fitting circumstances.
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It’s not just the first team that deserve credit, though, with Madrid’s bench often having a massive impact on games, especially this season. The likes of Marco Asensio, Lucas Vazquez and Gareth Bale have all contributed as substitutes or in occasional starts. As time passes, we will focus more and more on what Real achieved and less on how, a relief to any Madridistas concerned about their team’s legacy.
But it shouldn’t be that way. Though they may not be revolutionary on the pitch like the Ajax of the 1970s or the Barcelona of the early 2010s, they do bring their own unique values to the table, a never-say-die attitude and an unwavering self-belief that the European Cup is their right. All this built on the foundation of a backroom staff and fitness regime dedicated to having the side fit and hungry at the business end of the season.
In many ways, the values and qualities of this current Real Madrid align with the values Real Madrid have prized throughout their storied history. It’s fitting their legacy will, like that of the great club itself, be eternally linked with the European Cup.