Hot and cold Real Madrid heading towards Champions League disaster
In the space of three days, Real Madrid have gone from a side that defeated Barcelona to one that couldn’t pick three points against Borussia Monchengladbach in the UEFA Champions League.
The Blancos were at their best against Barcelona over the weekend, as goals from Federico Valverde, Sergio Ramos and Luka Modric saw them sink their bitter rivals.
However, their inconsistency once again showed when they faced Borussia Monchengladbach on Tuesday evening. Having lost their opening Champions League group game to Shakhtar Donetsk, this was a game Real Madrid badly needed to win.
The first half, though, ended up being a disaster. Marcus Thuram put the German side in the lead after some questionable defending from Madrid.
Thuram doubled Monchengladbach’s lead in the 58th minute and although the Blancos eventually battled their way back to earn a 2-2 draw, it was not an inspiring showing.
Zinedine Zidane’s side has now failed to win any of their first two group games in the Champions League and, at this rate, the side will be heading out of the tournament pretty soon.
Real Madrid this season have been hot and cold. They haven’t shown the kind of consistency needed to challenge for titles. In La Liga, despite defeating Barcelona, they are yet to really convince with their performances.
The Champions League has always been thought to be their hunting ground. But since Cristiano Ronaldo's departure in 2018, Real Madrid have failed to do anything of note in the storied competition.
In 2018-19, they suffered an early exit from the Champions League at the hands of Ajax Amsterdam, while last season saw them get eliminated at the hands of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
Madrid’s form in Europe has been porous since they sealed a historic third successive Champions League title in May 2018.
Zidane and his charges need to improve immediately or may be heading for a yet another disastrous run in the Champions League.