Madrid's reasons to dream

Real Madrid carried out the always complicated visit to Balaídos (regardless of the state in which Celta is, Vigo always face the whites) and he will go to the national team break with a good taste in his mouth and who knows if he is closer to the leadership. It will depend on what they do this Sunday afternoon Atlético (against Alavés at home) and Barcelona (in Anoeta against Real Sociedad).

The victory in Vigo left several exciting conclusions for the future in the short and medium term: Benzema faces the final stretch of the course at his best, the team shows almost all the time the defensive solvency that Zidane wanted so much, the infirmary has gradually been emptied … With the League and the Champions still at stake, Madrid does not happen to be favorites in either case, but there are reasons to dream.

A team on a roll

If Real Madrid had distinguished itself this season for something, it was due to its instability in the results: unable to chain several good matches, could fall with a crash consecutively in Valdebebas against Cádiz (0-1) and Shakhtar (2-3), then win with solvency at the Camp Nou (1-3) and then a miracle draw in the last gasp at the Borussia Mönchengladbach stadium. An incompatible roller coaster than the essential regularity necessary to be a league champion. After months of campaigning, Madrid have found that path.

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For the first time this season, Madrid have chained ten games without knowing defeat: they have eight victories and two draws in their last ten games, with 18 goals in favor and six against. It has not fallen since January 30, when Levante attacked Di Stéfano, in a match marked by the controversial expulsion of Militao after ten minutes of play.

A manageable calendar … and the Champions League

At the return of this national team break, Madrid will have a minimum of 12 games left on its calendar, which could reach 15 if it reaches the Champions League final. He will play again against Eibar at the Di Stéfano, on Saturday, April 3, after which the most demanding week of the course will come: plays against Liverpool the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals on April 6, then the Valdebebas Classical on 10 and finally the second leg of the second round against Liverpool again, the 14th. Three very high-level duels in nine days that will gauge White's chances in terms of titles.

If he succeeds in that hellish week, the league calendar, although with some thorns, gives rise to hope: Cádiz, Betis, Getafe, Osasuna, Seville, Granada, Athletic and Villarreal, with the visit to San Mamés as the main concern. There is no easy game for anyone in this league, but Madrid have a calendar that makes them optimistic, also counting on the presence of Barcelona-Atlético on matchday 35, where the whites will choose sides depending on the circumstances.

A wall for Courtois

To cement the current run of positive results, Real Madrid has recovered the formula from last year, the one it applied to win the League after confinement: defensive security and hitting on the few occasions generated. A risky theory that can lead to setbacks (draws against Atlético and Real Sociedad), but that in general matches well with the current moment of the white squad, with enormous difficulties in defining the chances (he has only scored more than three goals once in 38 games).

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After hitting the blind spot halfway through the course, Madrid has stabilized the bleeding of goals against and Courtois is already among the least scored goalkeepers in the League: he has conceded 23 goals in 28 games, the same as Barcelona (with one game less) and five more than Oblak, also with a game pending. It also almost equals Atleti in goals scored (49 to 50), below Barcelona (61).

Zidane has achieved that defensive security despite the enormous problems he has had to compose the rear: He lost Ramos for more than a month, Carvajal will not return until mid-April, Odriozola does not stop entering the infirmary, Militao has also passed through there, Marcelo relapses easily … The Marseillais opted for Lucas Vázquez as lane and it turned out well, he gave gallons to a Varane whose future at the club is uncertain, It featured the wonderful personal moment that Nacho is going through and the proven reliability of Mendy. That security now suffers its first cracks, Madrid has been receiving a goal for five games in a row … but it is compensated by Benzema's scoring rise.

Benzema breaks to thrashing

The Frenchman scored a double at Balaídos that paved the way for Madrid, to which he added an assist to Asensio in the final extension. He equaled Santillana (186 goals in the league) and now only has Di Stéfano, Raúl and Cristiano above him. He is exultant: he has scored in the last six games in which he has participated (Getafe, Valencia, Atlético, Elche, Atalanta and Celta). Add 23 goals between all competitions, 17 in the League (four of Messi's 21) and is the author of 35% of Madrid's offensive production in the domestic tournament. At this rate, the course would end with between 30 and 32 goals (depending on whether or not Madrid advances in the Champions League); his top is still the 32 goals he scored in 2015-16.

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Essential goals, because Madrid's problem is not in Karim, if not in its choristers: the next Real Madrid scorer is Casemiro, with six goals. The first attackers after the Frenchman are Vinicius and Asensio, both with four goals and both players disputed for their irregularity throughout the course. If Benzema maintains the tone, Madrid can aspire to everything that remains in contention. This season, for now, he is improving his performance from last year: At this point he had 20 targets in total, this season there are already 23.

The engine room does not rest

If Benzema's good performance was expected, the solvency with which they are carrying out the season is surprising the three titular members of Madrid's midfield: Casemiro, Modric and Kroos. An anomaly, since the three have been playing together since 2015, largely cemented the three consecutive Champions League and now, when the signs of final exhaustion should be appreciated, they maintain the level and support Madrid.

Modric's case is the most special: At 35, he was facing his last year in white with the prospect of spending several minutes on the bench and giving the relief to Valverde and Odegaard. But the circumstances have not accompanied: the injuries punished the Uruguayan, the Norwegian got fed up with not counting and went to London and the Croatian, whom Zidane preserved last year at various times, is the sixth player who accumulates the most minutes in the season. template (over 2,700 '). Madrid sees it so clearly that it has already agreed with him the renewal for another year. And Valverde joins them, recovered from his physical problems to give Madrid that display and intensity that Zidane likes so much.

Vinicius gallops again

Without Hazard, eternally injured, Vinicius has ended up taking the fixed place in the starting eleven, as a left winger, his favorite position. He still does not fill Zidane's eye at all, but while he manages to convince him, the Brazilian has woken up in recent games with two good performances: against Atalanta, he left a dream play that he could not finish later, but in return caused a penalty minutes then; and against Celta he stretched the team in several moments of the second half, yesin getting to damage the Vigo team on the scoreboard, but showing his teeth and helping Madrid in times of trouble.

His big problem is still the goal: he has barely scored four goals in 1,840 minutes, one every 460'. It penalizes him how little he is able to leave his mark in the games, but in return he is showing himself as the best overflowing of the squad. As long as Hazard is not healthy (and it seems that he will go for a long time), Vinicius knows he has a place.