5 ways Real Madrid can shake off their Bernabeu shackles

#1 Zidane must freshen his approach

Zinedine Zidane still has much to learn about football management

Despite his success, Zinedine Zidane is still learning his trade as a manager, and his success has largely been achieved through the tools that he has at his disposal.

Any manager that can select a team from some of the best players in the world is always likely to succeed, and it is the form of players like Luka Modric and Ronaldo that has brought him a string of trophies since succeeding Rafael Benitez.

But success has also played a pivotal part in deciding why he has not needed to make any significant tactical changes to his side.

Although there have been small shifts surrounding the availability of different personnel, the basic model used over time has now allowed rival managers the opportunity to work out the most effective way of playing against them.

More often than not, Madrid will still succeed, but frustrating them at the Bernabeu has proved effective in dislodging their defensive discipline and using the displeasure of the crowd to their advantage.

However, Zidane's true talent has been shown in his man-management, and keeping players like Ronaldo happy despite deciding to rest him at certain points last season has shown the rest of the footballing world that he has the ability to manage the most high-maintenance of players.

But results like Wednesday night are not something that the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo will appreciate being associated with, and while he will be as desperate as anyone to turn the current slide around, it is Zidane who will ultimately carry the responsibility.

The Santiago Bernabeu has been a fortress for Real Madrid in recent years, but it is now quickly becoming a psychologically negative element to their season that must be overcome, and soon.