Zidane's stubbornness punishes Real Madrid Real Madrid Slipped to another home defeat

After intimating in midweek that he wouldn't change either his starting line-up or style of play, Zinedine Zidane was true to his word in Real Madrid's 1-0 defeat to Villarreal, although the Frenchman's stubbornness is punishing Los Blancos at present.

It's exactly this attitude from the former Juventus midfielder that has seen Real put together a quite catastrophic defence of their LaLiga title.

A Barcelona victory against Real Sociedad on Sunday would leave the gap between the two teams at 19 points.

Despite results going so badly awry, Zidane has seen no reason to change; his faith in the current group of players has been unwavering to this point, even to the detriment of the squad.

Of course, it must be remembered that this method brought the club unprecedented success in 2017, though evolution is key when building a dynasty.

In the first half of the match there were chances aplenty for the hosts, Cristiano Ronaldo hit the post twice and there were even multiple penalty shouts.

However, by the end of the encounter Real looked a team bereft of all confidence and conviction.

Substitutions once again followed the familiar pattern, Lucas Vazquez and Marco Asensio were introduced but neither had any real impact.

The former Castilla coach remains absolutely convinced in the players he has at his disposal, there is no doubt in his mind that when Sergio Ramos and Karim Benzema return, his team will be at full strength and capable of winning a third successive Champions League.

Unfortunately the club's form is so bad at this moment that overcoming Paris Saint-Germain in the first knockout round looks unlikely.

A refusal to address squad weaknesses in the transfer window is looking more peculiar by the match.

Alvaro Morata, James Rodriguez, Pepe all left in the summer and none have been sufficiently replaced, especially the attacking duo.

The Estadio Santiago Bernabeu crowd continues to support, and for the most part respect, both the players and the coach, and both have credit in the bank as a result of their previous glories.

However such a situation won't be tolerated for too long.