The three-time European champion will begin a new UEFA Champions League season without Zinedine Zidane, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mateo Kovacic

As many already know, the new season of Real Madrid, the current three-time European champion, is about to begin without Cristiano Ronaldo in the team, Zinedine Zidane on the technical bench and Mateo Kovacic, who was recruited to play with Chelsea. Now it is rumored about the possible departure of the Croatian Luka Modric, an undisputed figure in the midfield. This will be a very different team than the one that raised La Orejona, as the UEFA Champions League trophy is called, in 2016, 2017 and 2018. However, the transfer market for Spain closes on August 31 and many things can happen. For now, in LatinAmerican Post we review if Real Madrid can aspire to a fourth consecutive crown with the material it has.

Leer en español: ¿El Real Madrid puede aspirar a una cuarta copa consecutiva sin Cristiano Ronaldo?

First thing's first. It is evident the enormous gap left by Cristiano and Zidane with the three Champions League that they won consecutively between 2016 and 2018. According to data revealed by Marca, during his nine-year stay at the "White House", the Portuguese striker scored "451 goals in 438 games", which yields an average of 1.03 goals per game. His goals were divided as follows: 312 in the League, 22 in the Cup, 4 in the Spanish Super Cup, 2 in the European Cup, 6 in the Club World Cup and 105 in the Champions League.

The same media said that Ronaldo was established as the top striker of the Champions with 120 goals, of which 105 were wearing the white shirt. As for Zidane, the coach left the merengue bench after two and a half years in that position. The Frenchman won nine titles: 3 in the Champions League, 1 in the Spanish League, 2 in the European Super Cup, 2 in the Club World Cup and 1 in the Spanish Super Cup, reported Mundo Deportivo. Therefore, from the departure of these two legends, Madrid must build a new project that now heads the technical director Julen Lopetegui.

The young coach will have the mission to continue with the winning legacy of Zizou. To achieve this, the Spanish seeks great reinforcements among those who are Eden Hazard, affirmed La Sexta. The arrival of the Belgian is a priority given that it will occupy the place of end that the Madrid team needs so much. It was also the goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, but that step was already taken after closing the past 9 August the signing of the Belgian goalkeeper after canceling Chelsea almost 35 million euros for the next six seasons, until the 2023-2 campaign, as reflected the newspaper As.

Can Real Madrid claim its fourth consecutive crown?

On September 18 and 19, the 2018/19 season of the UEFA Champions League will begin with Real Madrid as the defending champion. However, is there really potential to dream of it fourteenth "orejona" in its history? As mentioned above, Madrid will no longer have the CR7 score goals. We will have to wait for the names of the players that will arrive and the adaptation time they will have. So far only Álvaro Odriozola, Vinícius Júnior and Courtois have arrived to the team.

You can also read: Real Madrid: What have been its worst moves in the market?

Although the young Spanish coach had a successful season with La Roja, he has not yet faced a challenge of such magnitude. Similarly, he has a competitive payroll, but already worn out. Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema, for example, urgently require a forward at their side. That is why Florentino Pérez, president of the club, has started to move.

According to Defensa Central, Edinson Cavani, Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner are the other names that are being considered. In contrast, Fichajes.net placed the attackers Harry Kane, Dries Mertens and Ciro Immobile in the orbit of the merengues.

The other candidates

The fact that the white team is still with doubts is a great incentive for the other teams that dream of becoming the European champion. One of them is Juventus, the team where Ronaldo went to. The Turin team has a successful process under the command of Massimiliano Allegri and without doubt the arrival of Cristiano will be very positive. The signing of the Luso was very highlighted by Allegri. In statements collected by El Comercio, he said that the "opponents will be more aggressive because we come from many victories and now comes an excellent player like him."

In the list of candidates with chances to bring down the merengues are, in addition to the "Juve", Bayern Munich, Barcelona that still has Lionel Messi, Atletico Madrid and Manchester City Pep Guardiola.

LatinAmerican Post | Yeinson Fajardo Bohórquez

Translated from "¿El Real Madrid puede aspirar a una cuarta copa sin Cristiano Ronaldo?"