Four seasons is not usually long enough to be considered a title drought unless you are one of the biggest football clubs in the world and hold your country’s record for domestic championships and the last four have been won by your biggest rivals, then four years feels like an eternity. Such is the case of Real Madrid, who clinched their 33rd La Liga title victory today with a win over Malaga, meaning they finished the season with 93 points, compared to archrival Barcelona’s 90. It has been an interesting four season stretch at the Bearnabeu Stadium with Los Blancos going through the end of current Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho’s reign, current Bayern Munich manager Carlo Ancelotti’s brief tenure, and current Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez before settling on the man who led them back to La Liga glory, former Ballon d’Or winner and club legend Zinedine Zidane.
Oddly enough despite not winning any domestic championships since 2012, the Spanish giants in that time have managed to win two UEFA Champions League trophies as the best club football team in Europe and have a chance to make it three in this stretch against Juventus in roughly two weeks time which would represent the first back to back wins in the Champions League since it was rebranded in the early 1990s. This season has not been without individual stories of success for the Galacticos as Cristiano Ronaldo became the all-time leading scorer among Europe’s top five leagues (the English Premier League, Ligue 1 in France, Serie A in Italy, Bundesliga in Germany, and La Liga of Spain) and Ronaldo also is once again a leading candidate for Ballon d’Or. This season’s success also comes despite the lengthy absence of star winger and Welsh international Gareth Bale who has struggled with a multitude of injuries. With the domestic title finally in their grasp, Los Blancos is shooting to gain an intercontinental double should they beat Juventus in the Champions League Final.
