Halfway through the season, Real Madrid were written off. The Zinedine Zidane side that looked like a juggernaut when they thrashed Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup Final seemed toothless once the season rolled in.
But they kept things interesting in the Champions League and just like my venerable colleague Anirudh Menon predicted, they shifted gears at the turn of the year and have gone on to do the unthinkable- win 3 Champions League titles in a row. However, it is hard to deny that there was an air of inevitability about it.
Real Madrid are perhaps the greatest big game team of all time and they reached there owing to their mental toughness and sheer ability.
Real Madrid are the first team to field the same XI in two seasons. This goes to show how consistent their players are on the grandest stage in club football. All these players are excellent individually and more importantly, they know how to grind out a result.
Real Madrid have always had big personalities at their disposal and they do so now more than ever because winning 3 Champions League titles in a row is not an achievement most players can brag about. When you’re backed by that kind of rep, every individual player’s belief in himself will grow and that has evidently played a big part in buoying Zizou’s men to greatness