Ultimate Guide to Real Madrid's 2016/17 Season

Real Madrid are already up and running in competitive action, but the real kick-off date for them is Sunday when the 2016/17 La Liga season gets underway.

They face Real Sociedad in Jornada 1 and will be hoping to go one better than last season when Zinedine Zidane's side finished as runners-up to champions Barcelona.

Here we take a look at Real over pre-season and give you all the details you need to know about the club heading into their first full season with Zidane at the helm.

Silverware to Silverware

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La Liga runners-up they might have been—and the less said about the Copa del Rey farce the better—but Real Madrid ended '15/16 in the best way possible, by lifting the UEFA Champions League trophy after beating rivals Atletico on penalties.

It turned out to be back-to-back trophies for Zidane and his players, as their next competitive match saw them overcome Sevilla in the resultant UEFA Super Cup, with an extra-time win over their La Liga rivals.

While critics might point to both trophies being won without Real being anywhere near their best on the days, the only point that really matters is that both trophies were won—and have now set the platform for the season ahead, in terms of confidence and expectation.

Summer Recruitment Drive...Stalled

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Real Madrid are normally a force and a catalyst in the transfer market, spending big money when required and in turn giving other clubs big funds to utilise. That hasn't been the case at all this summer, for a number of reasons.

Firstly, they made the astute move to bring back Alvaro Morata from Juventus, exorcising their buy-back clause to sign the Spanish striker for perhaps half of his market value—but the incoming deals stopped there, at least at senior level, with the exception of return from loans for Fabio Coentrao and Marco Asensio.

Moves for N'Golo Kante, Paul Pogba and Andre Gomes were all foiled as the midfield trio moved to Chelsea, Manchester United and Barcelona, respectively, and Zidane has repeatedly needed to say he is happy with the squad he has as a result.

That's no doubt the truth but not the entire truth.

The one lingering concern for Real is that soon they will not be able to sign anyone else to the squad in January or next summer, with an impending FIFA transfer ban to be handed down in the near future, pending an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Departures of Youth

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Real have not signed anyone major to the senior squad, thus no genuinely big-name players have departed—but a handful of youth prospects have left.

Some have gone for game time and experience elsewhere, while a couple have admitted defeat in the battle to break into the Real setup and moved on permanently, Alvaro Medran and Denis Cheryshev most prominent among the sales.

Borja Mayoral has gone to the Bundesliga on loan at Wolfsburg, Jesus Vallejo has followed him by heading to Eintracht Frankfurt, and Diego Llorente has left for Malaga in La Liga. Marca report Mariano is likely to move to Leganes on loan for the season, while Enzo Zidane is linked by Marca with a loan to Middlesbrough.

The only other departures were veteran full-back Alvaro Arbeloa on a free transfer and wide forward Jese Rodriguez, who has headed to PSG for €25 million.

The Boss

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Zinedine Zidane has seen almost everything he touches turn to gold since taking over as head coach at Real, ending last season with a great win streak and taking the two trophies in Europe.

He has experimented with 4-1-4-1 and 4-4-2 in pre-season rather than his preferred 4-3-3 setup of last year, and the French boss' growth as a manager will continue as he makes mistakes, learns from them and continually tweaks his team to beat all types of opponents.

The boss clearly has the respect of the dressing room, with little reported unrest since he took over.

Raphael Varane told Marca he was staying at the Bernabeu club because he "trusts" Zidane, and there have been several occasions already when a goal on the pitch is celebrated by the players running to their head coach.

Perhaps the most interesting move from Zidane this summer was to appoint a new fitness coach, Antonio Pintus, to whom he has been extremely close and engaging in conversation over the pre-season fixtures.

Zidane's relationship with Madrid clearly runs deep, and his sons Luca (goalkeeper) and Enzo (midfielder) were involved in the senior's pre-season tour in North America.

Thus far, Zidane's competitive record in charge of Real Madrid reads 22 wins, four draws and two defeats.

Injury Issues

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Unavailability of key players has been a problem to contend with for Real over the summer, with all the regular front line missing as well as the last line of defence.

Keylor Navas missed the Copa America and the Super Cup as he continues rehabilitation work, while Karim Benzema is still having trouble with a hip injury and is likely to miss the start of the season after missing much of Real's build-up. Cristiano Ronaldo, meanwhile, is still recovering after getting injured in the UEFA Euro 2016 final.

Gareth Bale is at least back and available and likely to spearhead Madrid's attack in the season opener, but where the attack has had issues in summer, the defence was similarly rotated due to injury last term.

Zidane will be hoping this latest bout of problems is the end of any major headaches in that department.

Variety in Attack

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The BBC attack of Benzema, Bale and Ronaldo is the starting point for Real's lineup when fit, but the boss has plenty of alternatives this season.

Morata is a clear option as striker, but his presence also allows Zidane to play two up top on occasions or have a willing runner into the channels to allow the wide players to cut infield to influence play.

There is the wing presence and speed of Lucas Vazquez, the goal threat of James Rodriguez and the scheming, roaming invention from Isco to select from—as well as the all-round excitement surrounding Asensio after his excellent pre-season.

Whether in a three-man attack or in a different system, Real have enough quality and options to keep teams guessing as to their approach—or, importantly, to change things up in-game.

Probable XI

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When everybody is fit, Real Madrid's team continues to largely pick itself.

There will be a battle at centre-back between Varane and Pepe to be the regular partner for Sergio Ramos, but it's likely that a variation of 4-3-3 will still be the go-to system for Zidane, meaning little change from last season.

Goalkeeper: Keylor Navas

Defence (R to L): Dani Carvajal, Pepe/Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo

Central midfield: Luka Modric, Casemiro, Toni Kroos

Forwards (R to L): Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema/Morata, Cristiano Ronaldo

Key Fixture Run

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Late November to the end of January is the critical period in Real Madrid's run of fixtures.

The derby against Atletico—the last one at the Vicente Calderon—takes place on November 20, with a home match against Sporting Gijon coming just before El Clasico, the trip to the Camp Nou to face Barcelona. The winter break comes after difficult games against Deportivo La Coruna and Valencia.

While a match at home to Granada should usually mean three points to kick off 2017 with, Real then face Sevilla, Malaga and Real Sociedad in succession, all teams who gave Zidane's men a tremendously tough time of things last season, and all of whom have strengthened over summer.

Of course, there will be isolated patches and fixtures throughout the season that pose an unexpected problem, but that run in particular could sort out whether Real lead the pack or are chasing again in the final third of the campaign.

What Constitutes Success or Failure?

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The big question. Over the entirety of the season, where's the line for Real on success and failure?

Given the start he has made, even a less-than-successful campaign for Zidane should still result in him being in charge a year from now, but optimism is sky-high and the feeling among the fans is that they can not only challenge for major honours but have an extremely special season.

Taking the title in La Liga has to be the priority, with Barcelona the dominant force for so long, but retaining the UEFA Champions League would also be a massive achievement given no club has done so in the present format.

A title can be won and lost by a single point, so finishing second (or third) isn't an outright failure unless the context of the season is also looked at, but Zidane surely cannot be happy if his side finish anything more than three points behind the eventual champions.

As for success, another piece of silverware come the end of 2016/17 would mean at least three trophies in 18 months for the Frenchman, and that would be progress, consistency in achievement and a step toward showing he is as capable in the dugout as he was on the pitch.

Win La Liga, and nobody can doubt Zidane or his team.

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