Less than an hour to avoid being the worst attack in Real Madrid's history

Matt Morley 6 years ago 2.2k
Real Madrid are 55 minutes away form an unwanted record. EFE

Julen Lopetegui knows what is at stake when Real Madrid take on Levante on Saturday. Whilst the former Spain boss will see the pressure on him increase yet further should 'Los Blancos' fail to record a routine victory, there is also a statistic that is worrying everyone involved with the club.

To a fan base that is used to routing teams and winning comfortably, the feeling of having gone almost seven hours without a goal is a strange one indeed. 

That's is what the Real Madrid faithful is going through at the moment, with the club sitting roughly an hour from claiming an unwanted record.

The drought began after Marco Asensio's goal in the narrow win over Espanyol back on September 22, with 409 minutes having since passed to no avail for the European champions.

Madrid's inability to find the net against Sevilla, Atletico, CSKA Moscow and Alavés means they are officially on their worst run of form in front of goal since 1985.

Back then, Amancio, unbeknownst to him,  was moving into his last few games at the helm, with Jorge Valdano's 89th-minute strike in a 3-0 win over Real Sociedad provoking a barren spell that lastest some 464 minutes of football.

Amancio was sacked during that spell, with Luis Molowny taking charge of the side. Athletic Bilbao (2-0 in the Copa del Rey), Atletico Madrid (0-4 in LaLiga), Inter Milan (2-0 in the UEFA Cup), Valencia (1-0 in LaLiga) and Hérucles (0-1 in LaLiga) were the teams to deny Real Madrid on that occasion, before Carlos Santillana broke the drought 13 minutes into the return leg against Inter as the Spanish side romped to a 3-0 win to go through on aggregate.

The difference between that drought and the current one stands at just 55 minutes, something that is sure to be weighing on the players' minds when they face Levante on Saturday.

The Bernabeu crowd is likely to get more than a bit anxious should their side go in at the break goalless...

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