What is happening with Real Madrid?

The silence is deafening inside Real Madrid's directive. Outside, however, the constant chatter about signings, exit, reinforcements and requests from a Zinedine Zidane who ended up angry in Vallecas has not stopped. 

Rarely has Zidane been seen so annoyed, so forceful against his own team, the one he always defended, even under situations of inmense pressure. "We didn't do anything, we didn't run... I apologise," he said.

While Leo Messi has performances that will go down in football's history, and Xavi and Casillas are all over newspaper covers (one hangs the boots, the other suffered an unexpected heart attack), Madrid prepares their game against Villarreal.

There is nothing at stake. Real Madrid would need to win everything and Atletico to lose everything to be second. An improbability, to say the least. The aim is to finish the season well, at least as dignifiedly as possible, to face the summer with tranquillity.

Vinicius could return after his injury. Without striker Karim Benzema, the team faces an unknown situation with 'Zizou' on the bench: he was never gone two straight games without scoring.

Heis team did not score against Getafe, nor against Rayo. It looks like Zidane's team will be looking to break the drought against Villarreal. The worst run in history is in three games without goals. There were never four.

The spotlight will once again be on Madrid with Saturday's appearance of a Zidane who, since his return, has barely answered questions about the future. The present, however, is not yet over.

 

May 3, 2019