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Reasons To Be Excited (And Equally Nervous) For This New Season

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Pre-season is over. The new league campaign is a couple of days away. Things are finally starting to feel normal again.

Yeah, not quite.

Yesterday, Julen Lopetegui lost his first competitive game as a Real Madrid manager. The team played city rivals Atletico Madrid and lost 4-2. They were playing good football and were the dominant side for the majority of the game, until Atleti hit the equalizer. It all went downhill from that.

But that's not to say that this is going to be a usual scenario every weekend for the Madridistas. The team is still in transition. They are still adapting to Lopetegui's scheme, and that will take time.

Anyway, this isn't a match report.

Everyone loves challenges. This new season brings challenges. I've jotted down some pointers and here are some reasons why everyone should be excited, and equally nervous, for the season 2018-19.

1)Post-Cristiano Era : Everyone knows what I'm talking about. Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the greatest players in the history of this beautiful game, and possibly the greatest our club has ever seen, has left Real Madrid after 9 years of supremacy, after 9 years full of goals and memories and trophies. 450 goals in 438 games. It is still quite hard to believe the statistics. He was the go-to guy whenever Madrid needed a goal. The way he would turn up in big games is something that no player in history of football can do. We've not bought any replacement for Cristiano. Well for one reason, there is no replacement for Cristiano, and for another, we have Marco. It must be said that Asensio has a job and a half to provide as much as he possibly can and truly rise to his full potential. Man, this was difficult to write.

2) Gareth freaking Bale : The guy who's potentially going to carry us this season. He, by no means, is on Cristiano Ronaldo's level, no one is, except his former domestic rival, Leo. But, when fit, Gareth's the one who can make the difference. Copa Del Rey final 2014, UEFA Champions league final 2014, The Gareth Bale Show in Kiev, 2018. These are testimonies to the fact that sometimes, he IS the difference. He can provide at least half of the goals Cristiano did year in year out, maybe even more IF he's fit. IF he's fit, he's easily in the top 10 list of the best in the world. And that's what we are counting on. Explosive pace, mesmerizing long rangers, Acrobatic finishes, [you know the one I'm talking about ;)] and just the determination to not give up in the toughest moments. Gareth is finally about to become the main man for Real Madrid. No pressure then, Gareth.

3) Navas VS Courtois : This question seems more obvious to most of the other fans than it does to me. I've read tweets that say, "Courtois the easy choice after Super Cup" Or "its the end of Navas' time in the goal of the Bernabeu". How is that so easily decided? Were all the goals we conceded yesterday because of Navas? What if Navas produces so many performances like the one against Bayern last season, that Courtois just has to fight for the position? No one can say for sure about what will happen in the future. But can we not implement the scheme of rotation like we did for Lopez and Iker back in 2014? Think about this. We have 2 world-class goalkeepers. You wouldn't see this type of roster everywhere, would you? Who performs better would start, and that is why this is going to be so fun to watch.

4) Fransisco Roman Alarcon Suarez : You all know who he is. You all know what he can do. Watch Spain 3-0 Italy, World Cup 2018 Qualifier. That's Isco under Lopetegui.

Nothing left to be said.

5) Alvaro Odriozola VS Dani Carvajal : Do you remember how good Carvajal was in 2016-17? That was the year when he had competition for his place. There was a lot of hype for Danilo, who arrived here a season before that, he never quite lived up to what we expected from him. But Carvajal still believed that the position must be his and his only. He fought off his competition, and it was by far the best season of his career. The season after that? Yes, he was diagnosed with a heart problem, because of which all of us feared that he might be forced to retire. He fought the illness and came back. But the rest of the time, he knew that the position was his. There was no competition. Danilo was sold. Academy product Hakimi or Nacho were backups. Achraf wasn't ready for the starting place, even though his ceiling is really high, and Nacho isn't really a full back. True, he fills in whenever Carvajal isn't there but he doesn't bring that much to the table in the offensive third. Carvajal wasn't half as good as he was the season before, which needed to change, and change fast.

Enter Odriozola.

If you want to get the best out of once-the-best right back in the world, you need to bring in the best right back in the league from last season, to give the former some competition, and some fear that he actually lose his place. Not that he will, but everything in the offense went through Odriozola last season for Real Sociedad. He handled the pressure to deliver pretty well, which should light up the fire to deliver in Carvajal. Even though Odriozola will fight for his place, but this should and must be the season when we see the Carvajal of old.

6) The emergence of Vinicius Junior, And Marcelo's backup : Let's start with the players that had surprised many during the pre-season friendlies. Fede Valverde, Reguilon (more on him later) and Dani Ceballos (not really a surprise, but he showed a lot more confidence than he did last season, which is great.) were the youngsters who impressed a lot. But Vinicius Junior, he's something different. Everyone thought that he will go on loan to some other club, preferably in La Liga, to gain some experience. He might still go on loan but it's looking more and more unlikely after every passing game. He will definitely not be a starter this season, or the next. But he can be used as a substitute who provides pace and energy in the dying stages of the game. And oh boy, does he dribble well. One to look out for, guys.

Now that Theo is loaned to Real Sociedad for the current season, Madrid needed a young player who can be used as a backup for and an understudy to Marcelo. Reguilon proved to be the man for that role. He has surprised everyone with his performances, and although he would make a lot of mistakes, he's up for the role, it seems.

So to conclude this article, I'll just say that as much as I am excited for all of the things I have mentioned, some of these points really make me nervous. Will Gareth be able to provide the goals? Will he be able to stay fit all season long? Who will be the starting goalkeeper? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.