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Top 3 surprises at the Bernabeu this summer
- Updated: September 5, 2018
The first round of matches for this 2018/19 football season has gone by and Los Blancos have garnered maximum points from all 4 La Liga games they’ve played thus far under new manager Julen Lopetegui.
Some few months ago, especially after the third consecutive UEFA Champions League win, only a handful, if up to that, would have envisaged the current Real Madrid squad as well as the current manager at the Santiago Bernabeu.
In light of this, we have noted some major surprises from Real Madrid this summer as well as in the ongoing season, and we’ve mentioned our top 3. Do take a look:
1. The departure of Zidane and the shock appointment of Julen Lopetegui
Real Madrid won the third consecutive UCL title and folks were looking towards another interesting season. However, Zidane announced his resignation in a shocking manner.
READ: Report – Madrid to swap Marcelo for Alex Sandro
More shocking was the appointment of Julen Lopetegui who was set to lead Spain to the Russia 2018 World Cup.
This occurred as the media was busy linking Madrid to managers like Antonio Conte, Mauricio Pochettino, and the likes. No one saw Lopetegui in the picture. He was subsequently dismissed from the Spain team before the commencement of the World Cup enabling him to take over Los Blancos ahead of schedule.
2. No franchise signing after Ronaldo’s departure
The world was waiting for Real Madrid to identify a big money quality target and go for him in a possible world record deal in a bid to replace Ronaldo.
They were linked with moves for Eden Hazard, Neymar, Mauro Icardi, Kylian Mbappe. However, this was not the case for Los Blancos as they towed the shrewd line in transfer expenditure this summer.
They made no big money signing as expected but chose to settle with what they had alongside some few additions.
3. The arrival of Mariano Diaz and the assignment of the No.7 shirt
Reports suggested that Lopetegui had demanded for an attacker to help compliment the ones in the team.
Reports linked Madrid with moves for Iago Aspas and Rodrigo, but they shockingly went for Mariano Diaz who left the club for Lyon.
More surprising was the fact that he was handed the highly coveted No.7 shirt left vacant by Ronaldo on his departure.
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