Ask any Madrid fan and they'll tell you that it's been a tough campaign. Ending last season in dominant fashion, this year was to be the one in which we were to see a true White blossom.

Madrid won La Liga easily last season; Barcelona were humiliated and destitute; a few new signings were to come to Madrid; Robinho was going to have his “breakout” year; and the Madridistas were finally going to be able to see what this team could really do.

What wonders 9 months can perform. This year’s campaign was to be the beginning of an era, not the ashen demise of one.

In a way this season had ended before it had even begun for Los Blanco. The team’s most promising and entertaining young star was sent away on the last day of the transfer window, prescribing a year of tumult for Los Meringues.

Just one summer signing was made in more of a piecemeal effort to cover for the injured Wesley Sneijder than add a new dimension to the squad; one of the world’s most lethal strikers in Van Nistelrooy was out; the true value of Mahamadou Diarrá in defence was demonstrated with his absence for the season; and a promising rising star and Spanish International/Eurocopa winner in Rubén De La Red was carted off the pitch to possibly never play again.

It only followed that Bernd Schuster, the man who was charged with the task of changing Capello’s gritty-but-effective style of play to Madrid football, was out. And finally, the end of an era was marked when club president Ramón Calderon was - guess what - out.

And what is in? Without a doubt, Barcelona. While this column has more often than not been written through a Madrid lens, credit must be given where credit is due. And Barcelona deserve it in spades.

Bravo, Joan Laporta. As an enterprise, Barcelona is revived and the azulgrana president truly deserves Businessman of the Year. In 3 months, the out-of-favour club president, who was being called to resign by the Camp Nou faithful, took the ashes of a Barcelona team that had left its Champions League victory far behind and gave it new flame in igniting the inferno of Pep Guardiola’s Barça.

In a series of bold and purposeful moves during the summer, Barça parted with the disgruntled Ronaldinho, and brought in Seydou Keita, Gerard Pique, Martin Caceres, Alexander Hleb and, of course, Dani Alves to create a Barcelona that is on pace to become one of the best teams in history, period.

Chants of “¡Olé!” fill the Blaugrana’s stadium week in and week out. Watching a Barcelona match, the imminence of the goal is nearly palpable. Teams struggle to defend against the mounting pressure of Barça’s attack and even Real Madrid were forced to defend in numbers and rely on the counter as a means of retaliation. Eventually, all teams buckle under the strain and, like sharks at the scent of blood, a feeding frenzy ensues. In search of a goal, teams are forced to come out of their shells and draw out the distance between their lines virtually inviting Barcelona to devour the space on the way to scoring a five-goal ‘manita’.

With a nucleus of Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto’o, Xavi, Thierry Henry, Dani Alves, and Carles Puyol, Barcelona have created a side in which every player is comfortable on the ball, lethal in the box, and has the pace and skill to beat an opponent in a one-on-one encounter.

A bench with such youngsters as Bojan, Sergio Busquets, Pedro, and Andres Iniesta shows just how fundamentally sound Barcelona has become. Little more than three months after serving as an honour guard in the Bernabeu, Guardiola has done precisely what he was brought in to do: reinvent Barcelona’s sense of identity and create an exciting and, more importantly, stable atmosphere conducive to success.

Beating Numancia last week and atoning for their only loss in La Liga, it is difficult to imagine, given Pep’s philosophy and style of play, that Barca will be letting up anytime soon.

Meanwhile, at the Bernabéu, Madrid are going through something of an identity crisis. The old regime has gone and it remains unclear as to who will spearhead the next vision of Los Blancos.

For the return to fundamentals and winning play that Juande Ramos has reintroduced, he may not be at Real Madrid for more than six more months. This quasi-interim status has stymied Ramos’ vision for this season’s project; the winter transfer window has been marred by indecision as speculation has run rampant over the blockbuster deals that will bring superstar players to Madrid under the direction of presumptive president Florentino Perez.

Meanwhile, the fans, with no place to direct their frustrations, have begun to jeer the players that “symbolise” the old regime with Marcelo and Royston Drenthe being greeted by whistles as they take the pitch.

Both players are of considerable talent (in fact, in the month of December, Drenthe was viewed as Madrid’s best player), but unfortunately they are young and unpolished (Marcelo is just 20 and Drenthe 21). The trial-by-fire atmosphere of the Real Madrid stadium is no place to hone one’s skills and the Brazilian and Dutchman are only the latest in a long line of players to be unjustly victimised by the pressure of demanding and sometimes fickle fans.

What happens at the Bernabéu this season remains to be seen. Lassana Diarra has proven to be a pleasantly bright spot and Arjen Robben, in perhaps the best form of his career, is showing his true class.

No doubt this summer will be one of significant change at Real Madrid as the status of players like Fabio Cannavaro, Mahamadou Diarra, Drenthe, Marcelo, and even Sergio Ramos will be brought into question.

As for now, Madrid seem to be winning matches, realistically vying for a second place Champions League berth (thanks to Barcelona, the best possible finish in La Liga this year). Winning the Champions League has now become the primary objective: such a feat would serve as a splendid stage for Real Madrid to recover the identity they have been missing since the dog days of summer.

Cyrus C. Malek, Goal.com

 

How old is Raul now, 57? Seriously... Him and Grandpa Maldini need to find a nice relaxing home on the Riviera.

 

Poor guy He'll turn 32 this June but he's been playing since he was 17 I gues that's why people guess he's long in the tooth

 

Yeah it seems like FOREVER. Casillas, too, but at least Casillas still LOOKS young.