“Real Madrid’s opponents used to be scared of Ronaldo, now they are not”- claims former Los Blancos manager

What is the story?

Former Real Madrid and England manager Fabio Capello has that Real Madrid are not only lacking Cristiano Ronaldo's goal-scoring prowess but also his mere presence in the line-up.

According to Capello, rival defenders were frightened whenever the former Los Blancos superstar was on the field.

In case you didn't know

The 13-time European Champions are having one of the worst seasons in their recent history as they are set to go trophyless this season.

The catastrophe in Madrid reached its pinnacle when they bowed out of both the Champions League and Copa del Rey in a span of just one week back in March at the hands of Ajax and Barcelona respectively.

In order to reestablish calmness, Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez reappointed Zinedine Zidane for a second time running just nine months after his departure from the club.

However, Since Ronaldo’s big money transfer in the summer of 2018 to Turin, Real Madrid have struggled really badly in front of goal have failed miserably to replace the five-time Ballon d'Or winner.

Although Benzema took the lion's share of the responsibility to fill the void that Cristiano left, his inability to impact big games have cost Real dearly.

The heart of the matter…

"I always say, that Real Madrid and Barcelona start matches winning 1-0 and if you want to beat them you have to score at least two goals," Capello confessed at the Soccer Congress as quoted by Marca.

"The opposition defenders were very scared before and now they are not"@realmadriden have struggled for goals this season 😬One former Los Blancos boss believes Ronaldo's departure proved costly👇https://t.co/g7pvWKmoXY pic.twitter.com/0ev5rxAGJq

— MARCA in English (@MARCAinENGLISH) April 13, 2019

"This year Madrid have lacked the 1-0 and have started at 0-0 like the others and that's why they have faced so many difficulties.

"Now we see what is happening at Juventus with Cristiano [Ronaldo] as, with the Portuguese, the opposition defenders were very scared before and now they are not."

Capello was also surprised by Zidane’s return in the managerial hot seat of Real Madrid.

"Zidane's return has surprised me a lot to say the truth," he added.

"Zidane is the one who knows about the transfers, as there are three good players they can sign, and they know who those players are."

What’s next?

It still remains to be seen what kind of players Zidane will bring in next summer but for the time being, they will face Leganes in La Liga on the 15th of April.