Real Madrid finally won a game of football on Wednesday. Zinedine Zidane's side beat Fenerbahce 5-3 in the Audi Cup in Munich and on July 31 had their first victory across 90 minutes this summer.

Madrid had kicked off pre-season with a 3-1 defeat to Bayern Munich in the International Champions Cup on July 20, before a 2-2 draw with Arsenal (and win on penalties) three days later and then a humiliating 7-3 loss to Atletico.

A 1-0 defeat to Tottenham followed in Munich on Tuesday and Wednesday's win in 90 minutes was a first for Madrid since a 3-2 success at home to Villarreal in LaLiga on May 5, 87 days earlier.

Karim Benzema scored a hat-trick and Madrid went on to triumph 5-3 after goals from Nacho and Mariano in the final half hour.

Zidane had said the day before: "Right now, we just need a win."

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And they now have one. But Madrid will have been expected to beat Fenerbahce much more comfortably, especially after the Turkish team were thrashed 6-1 by Bayern the previous day.

The three goals let in by Real on Thursday mean Los Blancos have conceded 16 in just five fixtures in pre-season and it could have been more as Bayern, Atletico and Arsenal all missed good chances and Keylor Navas produced several super saves in the game against Spurs.

It is, of course, only pre-season. But it is also Madrid's worst pre-season since 1980, a summer that saw Real ship 17 goals (in 10 games) and included a calamitous 9-1 defeat by Bayern.

This summer could yet exceed that, with matches against Red Bull Salzburg and Roma still to come ahead of the big LaLiga kick-off away to Celta Vigo on August 17.

"We are going to do good things this season," Zidane said after the loss to Atletico, when both he and skipper Sergio Ramos claimed Madrid had treated the game as a friendly. As if that were a good excuse.

And after the loss to Tottenham, centre-back Raphael Varane said: "We all know that when competition starts, Madrid is something else."

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Certainly, that is an idea which has gained some traction in recent seasons, particularly in the Champions League. Madrid always seemed able to step up in the biggest games when it mattered most.

But last season's spectacular slump has raised serious doubts over whether that is actually the case. In 2018-19, Real finished 19 points Barcelona in LaLiga and were eliminated from the Champions League in the last 16 by Ajax.

The team has lost some ambition since Cristiano Ronaldo left last summer and there are problems in both defence and midfield.

There are caveats, naturally. Casemiro is due to return and without their defensive midfielder, Madrid are rarely as effective. Meanwhile, Nacho is unlikely to be in the line-up once the season starts, having featured – and produced error-strewn showings – for most of the summer.

In defence, Ferland Mendy (currently out injured) and fellow summer signing Eder Militao (like Casemiro, only just back after his participation in the Copa America) could both be starters, although their introduction and adaptation will also take time.

A new midfielder may yet arrive as well, with Paul Pogba the top target, but Casemiro is likely to be the only specialist defensive player in there and if he is out, Madrid may struggle as they have in pre-season.



Marcos Llorente, sold to Atletico this summer, would have been useful. And Dani Ceballos, loaned to Arsenal, is another who could have featured in that role.

Ideally, the entire team should be helping out with the defensive duties and it may be that the players are still behind in terms of fitness.



Whatever it is, when the seasons starts, the excuses will need to stop. And a trip to Balaidos on the opening weekend will represent a tough test.