Zidane against two walls

• Barcelona: The eternal conviction of Valverde

Few times in recent years has the Real Madrid League started with such a weak pulse, before it rolls the ball. Tomorrow in Vigo you have the opportunity to dissolve the doubts of the preseason with a good game and a victory. Things both almost forgotten this summer. He will send the ball, as always. And the result. If the targets are marked a solid function against Celta, they will make their fans forget the silly summer dislikes. But if not, if they continue smearing their way with the same musty tone that they drag from the end of last year, it will be confirmed that the project is born touched. It is curious the case of Real Madrid, the depressed air that it gives off despite having spent 300 million in reinforcements and having again on the bench with Zinedine Zidane , the legendary coach who led the team to win three Champions in a row (nine titles in two years and a half). Signings and a talisman technician, what more could you ask for?

The combination should be exciting. However, the mediocre final of the last League and, above all, the bad feelings of the friendly bring this Madrid with a bad body to the starting line, half trembling before the muscle of its two direct rivals. Zidane appears on the first day with a team based on the old guard that gave him so much glory in his previous stage, some players faced, now yes, at the last chance to show that they are able to reactivate their competitive gene even without the wings by Cristiano Ronaldo . The excuses of the previous season (the excesses of the World Cup, the hangover of so many Champions, the nostalgia of the lost scorer ...) will not serve in the journey that begins in Balaidos. That historical group, capable of raising Europe's Cups with frenzy, must now regain tone, look hungry, verve. In short, give the reason to their coach, who defended them most in the disaster. The Frenchman, instead of betting on a profound revolution, embraced his men with gratitude and faith, confident in returning, together, all to victory. Concern in the club and the bloated buds because the first symptoms resemble those that made him unload last season, with the end of that tragic week where Barça and Ajax shook Chamartín.

Even Zidane has been forced to improvise a system change in the latest friendlies seeking greater strength. In Vigo it will be seen if you bet on a formula -from three centrals- still tender or decide to pull the classic path. It is very likely that only one of the reinforcements, Eden Hazard , will appear on that eleven. Even the Belgian talent, landed in June in a Bernabéu to burst, has left some scratch in this pre-season of turbulence. Serious injuries ( Asensio ), signings that have not shone, stuck outings ( Bale, James ) and the deep wound that left the sultry defeat against Atlético in New Jersey (7-3). Such a neighborhood tunda could only be camouflaged with a powerful start to the League, the tournament that has most punished whites in recent years.

Zidane always repeated his predilection for the championship that marks the humor of the board, fans and the press. A League of trompicones supposes to live in permanent crisis, as Madrid has well verified in the last two years. That is why the Marseille coach looks at the photo of the 2016/17 campaign, when they conquered a forgotten double since the 50s. ZZ wants a set like that, with 18 headlines, ready to win games with an eleven loaded with rotations. In the absence of Pogba, his great claim, Militao, Jovic, Mendy or the young Valverde and Vinicius will have to be the ones that give air to the classic headlines, provided that they manage to wake up physically and mentally.

They have no choice but to do so, if they want to stand up to two rivals that start the season with fearsome appearance. Barça has placed two pieces of category with Messi , the great devourer of Leagues, Griezmann and De Jong . And the Athletic one, forced by the exit of its spine, appears impelled by a preseason of wine and roses, between the thrashed to the Madrid and a sonorous sequence of signings (of Llorente to a new defense), with the child Joao Felix as new flag. His first appearances have left the scent of a powerful footballer. A few friendly ones have been enough for its exorbitant price (126 million) to seem, miracles of summer football, a cunning operation.

The League will also be uncorked under the shadow of Neymar's signing, an expensive whim for Messi and perhaps the solution, at least in the form of a mood blow, for Madrid, if it doesn't take off from here at the end of the market. Meanwhile, even a discard like James could be a valid solution for Zidane, happy with the Colombian's August. His presence in Vigo would crown a strange preseason.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

• Zinedine Zidane
• Real Madrid
• Neymar
• Eden Hazard
• Ajax
• Cristiano Ronaldo
• Ferland Mendy
• Gareth Bale
• Joao Felix
• Luka Jovic
• Spanish league

International Champions CupBale, protagonist until the end: goal, saved under sticks and penalty missed against Arsenal

Real MadridZidane: "Bale's role has not changed since June"

Champions LeagueMessi, Cristiano and Van Dijk, nominated for UEFA Player of the Year