Real Madrid Lack of goals throughout 2017/18

There is a problem with the football at Real Madrid this season, particularly as Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema have been misfiring badly.

It isn't a character issue for the team but the men who have been key to recent successes have largely been peripheral figures.

Coach Zinedine Zidane has been unable to find the answer and returned to the starting line-up which took to the field in Cardiff and won the Champions League final.

It was an experiment that didn't quite work, despite Real regaining their defensive solidity with the return of Sergio Ramos, who walked the tightrope once more before ultimately being sent off in the closing stages.

Real are giving the impression of a team who have lost their way to a degree.

Dani Carvajal is back now on the right flank but on the opposite side, Marcelo hasn't been up to the task.

His final ball has been disappointing and that spark which made him one of the world's best in recent years has been missing in his game.

In midfield, confusion is evident when Isco has to come so deep that he's collecting the ball from Keylor Navas on the edge of the Real penalty area.

Of course, on Saturday night, he did manage to cause some moments of panic at San Mames in the home defence.

Luka Modric improved as the game went on, something which cannot be said of his midfield colleagues Toni Kroos and Casemiro.

Another major aspect of their play which was sorely missed was simply doing damage in dangerous areas, and Los Blancos could never come up with that killer final ball.

However, the biggest problem for the club to deal with appears to be in attack.

Ronaldo and Benzema are trying and working hard but that isn't a valid argument for them to retain their place in the side and be certain starters in this system again.

Their form is far from their best and in 14 LaLiga matches this season, they have just four goals between the two of them.

Of course, Gareth Bale's injury has done a lot of damage in this regard, skewing all of the club's best laid plans.

A special mention is also reserved for Zidane.

He waited until the 80th minute to go to his bench and, in his opinion, all the team was missing was a goal.

It may seem obvious, but if a goal hasn't arrived by a certain point in the game, then an alternative route for finding it should be looked for - and he didn't do so it until it was far too late.

The big problem is that those four goals from Ronaldo and Benzema have left Real Madrid in an extremely precarious position in the league.

When you consider that on Saturday a big chance to cut the gap was missed after Barcelona drew at home to Celta, it leaves a sour taste.