After the departures of Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo, it seemed the end of a golden age for a club which has won four of the last five Champions League editions.
And yet, the president Florentino Perez didn't buy any top player as he used to do years ago. Because since he took James Rodriguez in 2014, he has not paid so much money in reinforcing the team. Certainly, many of Real Madrid hopes were put on Isco or Asensio, but neither of them is shining as in the former seasons.
Thus, the supporters who already asked for players such as Kane or Hazard during the summer, are considerably worried about the club situation.
Especially because players such as Kross, Modric, Marcelo or Sergio Ramos are not in their best shape.
Far behind Barcelona
Considering that Real Madrid has just won La Liga twice from the last ten editions, a fact which has been raising questions about whether Los Blancos give absolute priority to the Champions League, it wouldn't be a huge surprise that again they are not topping the domestic competition.
In fact, the situation is quite similar to the last season's, and that means being more so far from Barcelona that any thoughts of winning La Liga seem surreal. At the end January of 2018, they were eliminated in Copa del Rey by Leganes and were behind Barcelona by more than ten points.
Coincidentally, they will face Leganes again in the Spanish tournament, and the distance from Valverde's team is ten points.
Indeed, it seems that the only hopes will be on triumphing in Europe, as they have been doing for so many years.
The Champions League to save the season
In 2016 and 2018 and after falling far from Barcelona so early in La Liga, Real Madrid was mainly focused in the European competition, and both occasions, they won it and therefore their season was considered as a success.
But then, they had Cristiano Ronaldo, a player who scored many decisive goals in those seasons, being the tormentor of PSG, Juventus, Roma or Wolfsburg.
Mention apart it deserves 2017, the first time since Di Stefano playing years where Real Madrid lifted La Liga and the Champions League in the same season. On that year, Zidane's had arguably the best squad in the team's story.
But nowadays, Real Madrid has been clearly weakened in the last couple of years. Apart from the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, there were a bunch of players who were key parts of those successful years, such as Morata, James Rodriguez, Pepe or Kovacic, and another year of European glory it looks harder than ever.