In all honesty, watching Real Madrid's matches and covering any happening of theirs not related to summer transfers has been tiring and annoying to an extent recently. Mainly down to the glaring fact that their season is all but done and a heavily disappointing one at that.

Not only did they fail to defend their European crown, they exited the competition they won three consecutive times prior to this season as early the knockout stage and worst, at the hands of a youthful Ajax team who were more connected, composed and confident than they were(that is if they were at all). They also lost the league title to Barcelona who are beginning to rule Spain unrivalled. The Copa Del Rey which seemed like the competition that would make them avoid a trophyless season was lost at the hands of same Barcelona. With this I would be forced to go into details of the club's past summer mistakes and stories like that but enough has been said about that already, all eyes are set on the summer and next season which is one of the major reason watching Zidane experiment on the team and watching them lose or draw matches they were expected to win at all cost, I can't begin to tell you how tiring and annoying it is, but we will live through it, few matches to go.

What Went Down At Butarque

Leganese are renowned to be tough and very difficult to break on their turf. They possess the third best defence this season and has lost just two matches on their turf all season. Very impressive stats considering their value as a team.

Zidane knowing all these as he is expected to as a coach rolled out his usual 4-3-3, same formation he has used in the past 3 matches he has covered since his return.

Keylor Navas continued in between the sticks. Sergio Ramos reported injured was replaced by Nacho Hernandez and partnered by Raphael Varane.

Luka Modric, Fede Valverde and Casemiro were the midfield three and surprisingly, Isco and Asensio flanked Karim Benzema.

The first half was a show ran by Real Madrid but lacked creativity in the final third. Possessing the ball for large stretches of the game with nothing to show for it has been the norm for them under Zidane, I wonder if that is the training drill till whenever.

Isco who appeared to be a winger on paper was his usual self, drifiting from wing to wing from the centre and one of the danger men in the team. He made key passes and was a major outlet in offence but did little to break down the compact Leganese defence.

After series of one-sided possession and defending, a little confusion in Real Madrid's penalty area led to Leganese opening the scoring from a volley outside the 18 yard box.

Real Madrid went into halftime trailing by a goal. The second half was no different from the first but not long after the match restarted, Luka Modric who was the real Luka in this match from start did a sharp turn after getting the ball in front of the Leganese penalty area and squared to Benzema. The shot from the Frenchman was blocked by the keeper but he was on hand to hit in the rebound and draw his team level.

The intensity of the game dropped a bit after the goal. Substitutions made no necessary impact in changing the game and although Leganese had a goal cancelled out as offside, both teams were okay to close out the match with a draw.

Conclusion

Leganese has proved beyond reseaonable doubt that their turf is a ground to be wary of for visitors. They won Barcelona and Atletico Madrid there and almost won Real Madrid if not for some nice footwork by Luka Modric and finishing by Benzema.

Zidane brought on Lucas Vasquez and placed the winger on the left hand side. A wing he is very unfamiliar with which goes a long way to show how Zidane is equally looking beyond this season already.

BRACE UP FOR NEXT SEASON ALREADY ALL YOU REAL MADRID FAITHFULS FOR THE 2018/2019 SEASON IS APPARENTLY OVER BUT NOT OFFICIALLY OVER.

THANKS FOR READING..