Key factors that helped Real Madrid win back La Liga
Real Madrid snatched the Spanish league honor from Barcelona after sealing La Liga 2019-20 title. Real won their first league title in three years. They had last won the title in 2016-17. The title is Real's second under manager Zinedine Zidane. Several factors played a key role in helping Los Blancos win their 34th league honor. In this article, we look at the same.
It was an impressive turnaround for Real Madrid, who ended up 19 points behind Barcelona in the 2018-19 season. Prior to that, Real had ended 17 points behind champions Barca in 2017-18. In both these seasons, Real finished third in La Liga. Zidane, who had helped Real pocket the 2016-17 title, returned last March after leaving the club 10 months earlier.
Zidane had earlier helped the side win three successive Champions League honors, however, sealing La Liga is a different ball game altogether. He identified his team's weakness and made them more compact at the back. Teams find it difficult to score against Real. Conceding just 23 goals highlights the rapid progress. They had conceded 46 and 47 goals respectively in the previous two campaigns.
Real scripted a unique record this season after they became the first club in La Liga to see 21 different players score. Karim Benzema tops the show for Los Blancos with 21 league goals. The next best scorer is defender Sergio Ramos (10). Real's other attacking players failed to step up but that didn't matter. Zidane backs every player to get into scoring positions.
Benzema scored a brace against Villarreal to help Real win the title with a game to spare. The Frenchman is just two behind Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi (23). Benzema played an important role this campaign as he raced to 169 career La Liga goals. He also equaled his goals tally from last season. Benzema now has 26 goals in all competitions this season.
Real Madrid players worked together as a unit. Their collective mindset did wonders for them. Notably, this league honor was based on defensive foundations. Also, Barcelona's issues on and off the field helped Real Madrid. The manner in which Real played post La Liga's resumption, helped them massively. Everyone stepped up and the experience played a crucial role.
