Football Season Guide

Having won La Liga and the Champions League in the 2016/17 season, and having opened the new campaign with victory over Manchester United in the UEFA Super Cup as well as brushing aside Barcelona in the Supercopa, Real Madrid come into the new season full of confidence. They are out to defend those two prestigious crowns and they look just as strong as they were last season, with Zinedine Zidane going nowhere and with none of Real Madrid's starters having left. It is true a number of players have departed the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu this summer but the likes of Alvaro Morata, Danilo and James Rodriguez have done so precisely because they weren't enjoying enough playing time last year. This could pose a slight problem for Zidane who rotated to perfection last season and benefited from having such talented players on his bench. However, he'll be glad to have kept his starting eleven, the Gala XI, especially following the early summer rumours of a Cristiano Ronaldo exit. All of this means that Real Madrid can keep playing their winning 4-3-3 formation, led by their BBC front line of Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo who will again be backed by the midfield trio of Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Casemiro. The defensive quartet of Dani Carvajal, Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane and Marcelo picks itself too whilst Keylor Navas' excellent end to the 2016/17 season was enough for him to keep the goalkeeping jersey, for another year at least. In terms of additions, Real Madrid have so far only signed Atletico Madrid's Theo Hernandez as their new backup left-back, replacing Fabio Coentrao, and Dani Ceballos from Real Betis as one for the future. They've also welcomed back a number of players from loans whilst Marcos Llorente and Jesus Vallejo impressed enough last season to earn promotion to the Real Madrid senior squad. Borja Mayoral, meanwhile, may yet be leaving.