‘Real Madrid have a very limited squad’

James Shearman

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 3 min read

Former Real Madrid midfielder and manager Bernd Schuster believes this season’s struggles can be put down to the ‘very limited’ squad at Zinedine Zidane’s disposal.

Real trail city rivals Atletico by five points having played a game more going into a Madrid derby that could have a huge say in the destination of this season’s La Liga title.

But that comes as no surprise to Schuster, who is of the opinion that Zidane has been hampered by the options at his disposal this term.

“Right now, the squad is very limited,” the former Germany international told Onda Cero.

“The teams ahead of them in La Liga have better squads, are more structured, which makes it hard to compete with them.

“There isn’t quality like before, but what they miss the most is a true goalscorer.”

The absence of, as Schuster puts it, a ‘true goalscorer’ has led to links with the likes of Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe ahead of the summer.

But the 61-year-old believes Real would be better served by ensuring they have a more reliable spine to the team next season.

“There are key pieces missing, like [Sergio] Ramos, [Dani] Carvajal and [Karim] Benzema, which means they have to experiment with the line-up,” Schuster added.

“There are positions not covered by a regular starter and it shows.”