Cristiano Ronaldo care real Madrid was a seismic event for the Spanish giants and they were just beginning to recover from it, but what is surprising is how Barcelona are following the same path that Los Blancos did immediately after Ronaldo left, now that Lionel Messi you left the club.
Messi and Ronaldo not only defined the era in world football, but also defined the era in La Liga Santander. It was these two players at the head of the mountain, and the support team was just support.
Both clubs knew that it would be impossible to replace their contribution on the field, but it is difficult to imagine that any of the clubs expected the enormous presence and influence on the entire club they were losing.
Los Merenguez spend their fourth season without Ronaldo, but only Karim Benzema really came up to the plate, although with Vinicius Jr. getting better all the time and Rodrigo goes showing glimpses of glitter, there is a light at the end of the tunnel for the club, especially if Kylian Mbappe will arrive soon.
For Blaugrana, they just fall into the eye of the storm, the worst possible moment when it becomes painfully clear what exactly Messi moved to Camp Nou in both football and structural terms.
It seems silly to suggest that any player could be larger than a club, but it would be wrong to assume that Messi supported Barcelona for a number of years, especially when their financial crisis escalated and the transfer decisions were unsuccessful.
Coaching changes
real Madrid in the summer of 2018 received a double blow, demanding a replacement Zinedine Zidane as well as Ronaldo and Julien Lopeteguy a coach was chosen.
He only lasted two months and was fired on October 29th. It is interesting to note that Ronald Koeman suffered the same fate just two months later this season after being fired on October 27th.
Results crisis
Without Ronaldo, Los Merenguez’s attack was anemic and the results were immediately poor. The same thing happened with Barcelona without Messi, who suffered five defeats and three draws in the first 13 games of the season in all competitions.
Lois Cooles has won only two of the last seven matches, rather like Lopetegi made with real Madrid when he played five games in a row without winning.
Targets dried up
Messi and Ronaldo guaranteed their clubs an average of 50 goals per season, and none of the teams was able to compensate for the loss of this level of performance.
Los Blancos have scored 21 goals in 14 fewer games Lopetegi, on average 1.5 goals per match, while KoemanBarcelona have scored 16 goals in 13 games, averaging 1.2 goals per game.