It may have only been just under five months ago, but the memory of Real Madrid's historic eleventh Champions League triumph in Milan has quickly dissipated.
Unfortunately for Zinedine Zidane, he has been unable to realign the same side that started the final against Atletico Madrid on any occasion since May 28 and results have suffered.
In the first major fixture of the new season, the UEFA Super Cup, the Frenchman was forced to choose a drastically different starting XI in light of the late-finishing European Championship and several injury problems.
With this in mind, it's now clear that Zidane has been unable to build on the success of Milan, and as it stands, Los Blancos simply do not seem well-placed to defend their crown.
Ten games in and the Real boss has seen his plans disrupted by injuries to key men and the loss of form of several other stars.
Momentum has been halted, though clearly not all through Zidane's doing.
One of the major issues facing him is the turbulent form of Cristiano Ronaldo, who has suffered his worst start to a LaLiga season since he joined the club.
Injury niggles and fatigue from the long, draining 2015/16 campaign have evidently affected the Portuguese star's performances on the pitch, while injuries to Keylor Navas and Karim Benzema have also played a disruptive role in Los Merengues' season to date.
The aforementioned duo are now back in action, however, the Real Madrid injury curse has struck again in recent weeks with James Rodriguez, Luka Modric, Casemiro and Sergio Ramos the latest big-name casualties.
Ramos, out until November at the earliest following a knock sustained on international duty, is now said to be targeting the trip to Barcelona on December 3 for his comeback.
Zidane will hope, for his sake alone, that the influential defender provides him with a pre-Clasico boost.
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