Intensity makes up for flair in Real Madrid's triumph

Real Madrid's 34th La Liga title looked a distant dream when they lost 3-7 to Atletico Madrid in a pre-season friendly in July last year. A leaky defence, an ageing squad and injury to key attackers Eden Hazard and Marco Asensio braced every Los Blancos follower for a topsy-turvy season. Topsy-turvy it still was, but the Madrid giants were able to reinvent themselves guided by Zinedine Zidane to take the title with a game to go.TOI charts out the five reasons:
Defensive strength: But for Ferland Mendy and an irregular Eder Militao, there weren't any new acquisitions to the defence that conceded 46 goals last season to the 22 they have this time around. It's just that every player on the field had to share defensive duties which includes rookie attackers Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo as well. Casemiro as the defensive half was brilliant, Ramos was the leader and Thibault Courtois under the bar safe as his Atletico days, but it was the team's intent to defend in a pack with a lot of intensity that helped them tide through choppy waters.
Timely lockdown: If there is one team that has really made the most of the new lockdown substitution rules, it's Real Madrid. Just ahead of the lockdown, Real had hit a rough patch, losing three of the last five games, even though the only win was a crucial one in Clasico. But after lockdown, with the option of five substitutions and so much quality of the bench, Zidane could ring the changes later in the game --- imagine Toni Kroos or Freddie Valverde walking in after 75 minutes --- which often made the difference in the heat.
Zidane's command: Superstars Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez spent most of the season on the bench and had it been any other coach, it would have led to friction within the team. But Zidane's larger-than-life personality and owner Florentino Perez's total confidence in him ensured that Zidane's decisions were never questioned. Real never showed their characteristic flair, stacking up goals for fun --- the way they did in 2016-17 during their last title win --- but that was all fine till the results kept coming. The fans, the owner and the players understood that the Cristiano Ronaldo era is well and truly over and now it's time to scrap for every inch, every goal and every point.
Blazing Benzema: The most under-rated among the BBC trident, this was the Frenchman's year to prove that he is truly a part of the club elite. 20 goals (not being the official penalty-taker), eight assists and an incredible work-rate show why Zidane never rotated him. The entire team showed incredible fitness towards the end, but Benzema was probably on top of the pile, delivering day in day out.
A bit of luck: Though it can be argued that champions make their own luck, but it is true that post lockdown almost all the 50-50 calls went in Real's favour. The penalties that were often overlooked before lockdown were being given, a couple of very tight goals (by Real Sociedad and Valencia) were disallowed and even Benzema wouldn't have argued if the team's second goal against Sociedad would have been cancelled because of a tight hand-ball call. But to Real's credit, they took whatever came their way and came up trumps.