Thread by @AdityaQuadros, My Real Madrid 2019/20 Season Review.I take a look at the turning [...]

My Real Madrid 2019/20 Season Review.

I take a look at the turning points during the season, some of our best games & top players.

If you don't want to read, go through the pictures and enjoy a recap on what was a tough but eventually vindicating season.

[THREAD]

Real Madrid started the season just as they ended the previous season, unconvincing. There were some big signings but none of them really looked like they would be starters except for Hazard. Mendy was an unknown commodity and Jović was never going to oust Benzema as a starter.

Our opener vs Celta was a good display of football for the most part but the game could've gone either way if Aspas wasn't marginally offside.

The subsequent matches highlighted previous issues with the same awful defensive organisation and impotency in attack.

The 3-0 trashing at PSG was one of the turning points of the season. Tuchel tactically outclassed Zidane with "La Decima" hero Di María putting in a man of the match performance. PSG created better chances, defended well and showed us something that we weren't, clinical.

This was the point of time that Zidane realised that just simply relying on our attack to score goals and praying for the defense to concede fewer than we score wasn't sustainable. Hazard was struggling for fitness and Real Madrid were overly reliant on Benzema to produce.

The first real test after PSG was a resurgent Sevilla now managed by Lopetegui who just a season earlier found the many problems at Madrid overwhelming and couldn't really find footing at the club.

Real Madrid won 1-0 & controlled the game, showing in defense what was to come.

Real Madrid were solid in the next few league games, if not spectacular. The defense was a work in progress but a massive shift from just a few games ago.

There was considerable change in how organised we were in defensive transition.

A key player emerged during this run of form. Fede Valverde now trusted by Zidane to relieve Modrić's exhausting workload, brought a new dimension to the Madrid midfield. He worked harder than everyone on the pitch, broke down attacks & marauded through opponent's lines for fun.

A 4-2 win against Granada served as a reminder of how things could go wrong in defense but Real Madrid didn't pay much heed to it.

What resulted was a catastrophic loss to Mallorca in the next game. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong. Complacency cost us yet again.

While the loss against PSG was a turning point in the way Real Madrid played football, the loss against Mallorca paved the way for Real Madrid to improve the mental side of things.

Post the Mallorca game, Real Madrid regained form and more importantly tightened up even further at the back. Errors were reduced to a minimum, the midfield really stepped up with Casemiro and Toni putting in 10/10 shifts in nearly every game they played.

If there was any player that needed a good run of form to gain confidence at the time, it was Courtois. And he did just that. From being heavily criticised by the fans and the media, He changed the entire perspective about him, picked up performances and became the league's best.

Real Madrid never really looked back after the Mallorca loss, winning games comfortably. The goals finally started adding up, players started gaining confidence and the defense and Courtois racked up clean sheets in a flurry.

Real Madrid's strong second half in El Clásico allowed them to outclass a listless Barcelona team, heavily reliant on Messi and in a dysfunctional system of their own to which they've still not really found a solution to.

Just before the Coronavirus called halt to all footballing activities, Real Madrid lost to Real Betis. This was the final wake up call for the club to get things right and on track. While the loss was painful, Real Madrid were just 2 points behind Barcelona going into the break.

While each player was given an individual fitness plan to follow, Zidane and his assistant David Bettoni, felt that the players needed a "fresh mental focus". They worked on the psychological side of things to prepare the players mentally for the gruelling schedule to come.

Real Madrid came out of the lockdown a different team. There was a different grit about them. The team didn't play well at times. They struggled for long periods in some games. They "suffered" according to Zidane...

But the players persevered. The defense held their ground. Benzema found MVP level form and carried the attack on his shoulders though Vini also brought a new dimension to attack. Luka Modrić came back resurgent and found his 16/17 form. 10 wins on the trot later, champions!

The best Real Madrid players in the 2019/2020 season?

• Thibaut Courtois, Zamora winner.

• Raphaël Varane, future captain.

• Casemiro, season MVP.

• Toni Kroos, impeccable in midfield.

• Karim Benzema, top scorer.

Breakout stars?

• Fede Valverde was relentless in both defense and attack.

• Ferland Mendy changed our defense for good with his skill in defending 1v1s and locking down the flank.

• Vinicius Jr. improved his defensive side of the game & was unplayable versus tired legs.

Zidane technically had to work with a similar team to last season. Hazard was out injured for most of the season and so was Asensio with the unfortunate ACL tear. Bale yet again, just couldn't get going.

We spent huge money but only Mendy truly became a starter.

Not to mention other injury troubles. We had 2 midfielders fit in the whole squad at times.

What Zidane had done is truly great. I doubt any Madrid fan went into the season thinking we'd end up with any trophies. But here we are and we have two trophies after all these problems.

I failed to mention Ramos in the previous tweets but we couldn't have won the league title without his post lockdown form. He was genuinely spectacular. Both in defense and in attack. He scored penalties, a freekick, headers. Did everything. One of our greatest captains ever.

While the season was remarkable, I'm a bit worried about the new season. The defensive issues have been solved but there's an urgent need to take the attacking workload off Benzema. Hazard really needs to shine and Vinicius & Rodrygo need to mature faster than expected.

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