Triple guillotine, triple crown

In eight days Zidane has reached the top of the three eight-thousand that they erected against Madrid to stay alive in the League and Champions League or say goodbye to one and definitely to the other. After a hesitant start in both competitions that had once again called into question his position as Madrid coach, Zizou comes out strengthened and the outlook for the season looks very different for whites. The triple guillotine that hung over the Frenchman has been transformed into a triple crown that has been turned around by the feeling that the team transmits.

LaLiga Santander

* Data updated as of December 13, 2020

Sevilla 0 – Real Madrid 1 | The whites cling to LaLiga

The visit to Pizjuán was presented as a final after returning from Ukraine with a blushing 2-0 against Shakhtar that made it difficult for Madrid to reach the second round of the Champions League. Against those of Lopetegui more than three points were at stake. A defeat would not only have left the Whites in a very disadvantageous position to revalidate their League champion title, but would also have taken them off the positions that give access to the next Champions League. A goal from Vinicius, with the invaluable help of Bono, gave the Whites the victory.

Madrid came out of Seville reinforced, not just because of the victory but because of how it happened. On the grass It was a caring, sacrificial and committed team, virtues that led Madrid to the championship last season. They also recovered one of the strengths that were key in the alirón. For the second time in 12 games, Courtois kept a clean sheet, something he has also achieved in the following two games.

Real Madrid 2 – Borussia 0 | Eighth through the big door

With the path in League momentarily straightened, the last day of the group stage was presented as a true final. All or nothing: to the second round or goodbye to the Champions. An elimination that would have been, literally, historic. Madrid is the only team that has passed all the group stages (also in the four editions that there were two leagues) that it has played under the new name of the European Cup. A record that is kept safe.

Madrid depended on itself to qualify and delivered. If Sevilla was the solid Madrid match, Gladbach was the forceful Madrid match. Two heads of Benzema gave the whites the passport to the second round. And the victory could have been more bulky had it not been for the sticks, in which three Real Madrid shots crashed. Shakhtar's draw in Milan gave Zidane's men not only qualification but also group lead, something the French manager had failed to achieve in his three previous group stage appearances as a coach. Madrid will be seeded in Monday's draw and avoid all the coconuts: Bayern, Juventus, City, PSG, Liverpool, Dortmund and Chelsea.

Real Madrid 2 – Atlético 0 | Madrid turns the LaLiga sock around

Reengaged at the top of the table, the derby was going to serve to measure Madrid's candidacy for LaLiga. Approaching the first third of the season, Atlético arrived labeled as a great favorite for the title and with a streak of 26 league games without losing. A rojiblanco victory would have taken them off nine points from their eternal rival and with one game less.

But that hypothesis was refuted. In the derby, the whites combined the wickers of the defensive solidity they found again in the Pizjuán and the punch they had against Gladbach. A 2-0 with goals from Casemiro and Carvajal that is a white knock in the championship. And Zidane, faced with an extreme situation, is reinforced by the results and by his players, who have publicly closed ranks around their coach. It is not a pose, they have shown it in the field.