Perhaps it was Spanish national team coach Vicente del Bosque who put it best before Spain’s friendly match against France last week when he warned, “football can be cruel to those who think they are better”.
While Real Madrid’s illustrious history in Europe makes the club one of the world’s greatest and most successful, it can also serve as an Achilles heel as a prestigious history can breed overconfidence and hubris. If Los Blancos are to be successful in the Champions League this season, they must remember that reputations mean nothing on the football pitch and that they must fight for the elusive 10th European crown, affectionately and often times obsessively refereed to as La Decima in the Spanish capital, as if it were their first.
2. The Five-Year Jinx
Chalk it up to bad luck, lack of ability in the squad, instability at the coaching position, or simply that one cannot buy success, Real Madrid have suffered defeat in the first knockout stage of the Champions League for five consecutive years. In every one of those years, the press and fans speculated a strong showing in Europe only to be met with crushing defeat, misdirected anger and despair, and unrequited dreams at the final whistle.
Few Madridistas have forgotten Thierry Henry’s wonder goal when Arsenal visited the Bernabeu; the fastest goal scored in Champions League history as Roy Makaay raced past Roberto Carlos to put Bayern Munich in pole position to progress; or last season when Madrid dominated Liverpool in the match at the Bernabeu but, unable to crack through the opposing defence, were stunned by the Reds’ away goal and then proceeded to be dismantled in the return leg at Anfield by a 4-0 scoreline.
In many ways, the Blanco-aficionados have come to worry that Real Madrid may suffer the same fate that the Spanish national team suffered, unable to progress past the quarter-finals of a competition for what became a 44-year trophy drought. Such a trend of failure, even for five years, becomes very difficult to shake and over time and players, fans, the media can come to fear that instruments of fate are somehow involved instead of approaching a match with the calm and level-headed confidence needed to win.
3. The Demanding Bernabeu
Most fans of football are happy when their team have won. But in the Spanish capital, securing a victory is simply not enough. Madrileños attend football matches as they would the theatre, the opera, or a bullfight: they expect to be entertained, to leave their seats in awe, having enjoyed a spectacle. Rarely (if ever) will one walk into a stadium of any sport and hear the home fans whistling and jeering their own team, but in the Santiago Bernabeu such a phenomenon is common, if not, expected.
The Bernabeu die-hards have jeered coaches, players, presidents, and have even cheered on the opposition if their team has not performed up to the platinum-gold standard of silky smooth attacking football that will forever be Real Madrid. The Madrid-based media only amplifies the problem, embellishing certain quotations and perpetuating rumours that sometimes border the realm of libel, all in the name of selling a dramatic narrative.
Such pressure both from fans and media pundits creates a volatile atmosphere for the team when things are not going as well as expected and can quickly engender instability in the team, only exacerbating the problem. Los Blancos live and die by this pressure: in Sunday’s epic comeback against Sevilla, the energy at the Bernabeu reflected that of a fan base that was full steam behind its team. If Madrid are to experience success this season, they need those fans behind them in full voice even if things are not going according to plan.
4. Chasing The Parked Bus
In seasons past, Madrid have notoriously capitulated when they were throwing men forward trying to chase a victory: The 5-0 aggregate loss to Liverpool in the Champions League, the 6-2 humiliation at home to Barcelona, just to name but two examples, were all instances where the Merengues simply had to go for the win as nothing else would do, but ended up with a pummelling instead.
History could very well repeat itself on Wednesday evening when Madrid welcome Lyon, hoping to overturn the 1-0 deficit. The French are likely to set up shop at the back and hit the 'Men in White' on the counter attack, just as they did to Liverpool in the group stage when the Reds poured forward desperately looking for three points and allowed Cesar Delgado to punish them with an injury time winner at Anfield.
And because of Madrid's failure to find an away goal a fortnight ago, they can ill-afford to allow Lyon to ripple the back of their net as for every goal that Claude Puel's troops score at the Bernabeu, Pellegrini's charges will have to score two more.
5. The Missing Xabi Factor
Madrid have enough depth in their squad to cover for any missing players. And you wouldn't be wrong. The place of Xabi Alonso, who will be suspended for the clash, can easily be deputised by Mahamadou Diarra or Fernando Gago. But neither can provide the same kind of security in defence and thrust in attack that Xabi can.
The deep-lying playmaker has a very distinct style of play, recovering possession from deep and bringing the ball forward, dictating the direction and rhythm with his well-measured, sprawling passes. Diarra has no problems doing the dirty work at the back, but he's not quite as adept linking up with the offence. Gago can run for 180 minutes, chase down every ball, and even ghost into the penalty box, but he doesn't have as good a positional sense and not as sharp with his passing.
The absences of Marcelo and Karim Benzema could also prove vital. It's true that the ex-Lyon striker hasn't been firing on all cylinders anyway and the Brazilian wing-back can sometimes cause more harm than good if played in the wrong position, but it's always better to have that extra option and dimension on the bench, as Pellegrini will tell you, especially after his masterstroke substitutions at the weekend against Sevilla.
Although 'Benz' hasn't been scoring much, he has shown that he is now well integrated into the team and he can contribute upfront when needed. Marcelo meanwhile has often given the Blancos an extra gear in the attacking half when things tighten up thanks to his pace and his dribbling runs, and without these three, Pellegrini will be restricted in implementing alternative strategies and tactics.
6. Big-Game Struggles
The Real Madrid attacking steamroller have scored more goals than any other side in La Liga, in fact, more goals on average than any other team in Europe's top leagues, and they were easily the top scorers in the group stages of the Champions League.
They've only lost three times in the Primera Division and twice in the Champions League so far, but all have been against tough opposition and rivals of their own calibre. Put simply, Manuel Pellegrini's men are struggling against the big teams. They lost to Sevilla earlier in the season, to Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao, they failed to beat Milan twice and they stumbled against Lyon two weeks ago.
At the weekend, they had to labour - although admirably - to fight back from two goals down to beat Sevilla 3-2 at the Bernabeu, while two other victories against their fierce rivals, Valencia and Atletico Madrid also ended with an identical 3-2 triumph.
A win is a win regardless, but while that may be the case in league competition, it's not the case in a knockout tournament where away goals are extremely vital. And if Madrid were to relicate another 3-2 win over Lyon, then they will be heading for the exit for the sixth straight season.
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