Real Madrid Players return to training on Saturday

For the Real Madrid squad, 2018 begins on Saturday, December 30, when they return to training at Valdebebas ready to bounce back after Clasico humiliation in the last game of the calendar year.

After six days of reflection, players have recharged their batteries, at least that is what Zinedine Zidane is hoping for.

That was the message that Zidane gave his players in the dressing room after that defeat, wishing them happy holidays and to come back refreshed and ready to recoup the winning feeling that they enjoyed in 2017.

The session will be open to the public, with 5,000 tickets sold and five trophies also set to be present.

It may still be part of the holiday season, but the team are itching to set the record straight after the 0-3 thrashing at the hands of Barcelona.

Without injuries

You could say that 2018 begins on December 30, 2017. That is how the players and coaches of Real Madrid will treat it, with Zidane having travelled to Dubai to help him relax and reset with his family.

After a historic and trophy laiden 2017, with five titles in total, 2018 has a lot to live up to.

It is not expected that Florentino Perez will be present at the session, though he often visits his players on the last day of the year in a situation without fans or press to wish them a happy new year.

The club are convinced that the current squad has the potential to turn things around in the league and find success in the Copa del Rey and Champions League, the latter of which has become the priority.

Zidane also believes that his team are capable of achieving great things in 2018, especially if his squad can steer clear of injuries, as they will do currently with no-one sidelined by injury.

Stop the rot in the league

14 points off of the leaders (11 with a win in their game in hand against Leganes), the team will not be obsessed about winning the league from the start of the year.

The message is clear, that whilst in the dressing room it is considered a mission impossible, Real Madrid will not give up the fight until the death.

The new year's resolution for Real Madrid is to go on a winning run that can put them back in contention and in second place, ready to pounce if Barcelona do slip up.

Coach Zidane also believes that the best way to find success in the cup competitions is by finding form in the league, which is his favourite competition.

For Zizou, the league is his bread and butter and the competition which most excites the squad.

That's why lifting the trophy in 2016/17 was the best moment of his coaching career to date, since he was named as coach on January, 4, 2016.

Zidane has asked his players to keep fighting for the league until it is over, just as they did in 2016, and they ended the season only two points behind.

Obligation to win the Copa del Rey

The Copa del Rey is the only trophy which has evaded Zidane, both as a player and as a coach, and remains one of the club's main targets for this season.

It is now a priority and whilst rotation is inevitable in the last 16 against Numancia, Zidane expects the same standards in that game as in the Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain.

In his first season in charge he did not get to experience the competition, due to the Cheryshev case which saw the club expelled, and they were knocked out by Celta Vigo in the quarter finals this time a year ago.

Injuries had their say last time out, and now Zidane expects his team to fight to progress and read the final.

Gain traction for the Champions League

Turn things around in LaLiga, obligated to win the Copa del Rey, but what could be the most decisive factor of all for Real Madrid is the knock-out tie with PSG in the Champions League.

Valentine's Day, February, 14, is highlighted on many calendars, but for those in Madrid it is for a date with Kylian Mbappe, Edinson Cavani and co.

Zidane believes that coming into the tie with confidence and belief is the best way to approach it, which will only be possible with six weeks of good results in the league and cup before the European games.

With the league off the cards, the Champions League is once again the priority, despite the hardest challenge Real Madrid have faced in many years at such an early stage of the competition.

PSG are one of the strongest rivals that they could have faced, but this team have shown that they turn up when it matters against the best opposition.

To arrive in form for the two games against PSG, Zidane and fitness coach Antonio Pintus will prepare a detailed fitness plan with rotations to ensure that the whole squad are at their peak.

Until then, there are 46 days to use the league and Copa del Rey as a spring board for success.

To have any shot at success in Europe, Real Madrid need the very best of Cristiano Ronaldo, something which has been seen in continental competition but not domestically.

Zidane trusts in Ronaldo, and he trusts in his squad, that together they can make 2017/18 a success.