MADRID - Real Madrid, facing finishing a second straight season empty-handed, will be great again just as surely as Michael Schumacher is not finished after two winless starts to the new Formula One season, according to Real defender Ivan Helguera.
"Real Madrid are the greatest (team) there has ever been and I see Madrid as Schumacher. We will come back, believe me," Helguera told Monday's edition of AS sports daily.
"It's like what is happening in Formula One," said Helguera, who said while he was delighted to see Spanish pilot Fernando Alonso take an early lead in the drivers' championship it didn't mean that seven-time champion Schumacher was over the hill.
"Fernando Alonso is a great guy and he's one of us. But people are singing his praises and going round saying Michael Schumacher is a disaster," said Helguera, who Sunday became the latest of Real's ageing squad to turn 30.
"We're talking about the greatest driver in history - and it's the same with Real having been the greatest in football."
Real are nonetheless unlikely to overhaul Barcelona's 11-point lead with just ten games to go.
Helguera suggested the constant chopping and changing at the top had been a major factor in the club's poor showing with Jose Antonio Camacho resigning just weeks after taking over last summer from the sacked Carlos Queiroz.
Brazilian Wanderley Luxemburgo then replaced interim coach Mariano Garcia in mid-season.
"We've had a bad year as people were very harsh following Camacho's resignation," said Helguera, noting many fans had blamed the players, perceiving that the club's superstar culture made life for a Real coach next to impossible.
"Camacho had his reasons (for leaving) but people were not fair on the players. They called us all kinds of things and the group has since felt uneasy," said Helguera, five seasons with the club and twice a Champions League winner.
Asked if Real had not erred last summer by allowing Barcelona to nip in ahead of them and sign Cameroon international forward Samuel Eto'o, Helguera said the man they did net, England striker Michael Owen, was just as good.
"Eto'o is a great player - but Owen need envy him nothing. If Owen played for Barca he would have scored goals just the same as Eto'o," said Helguera, noting that the African star is league top scorer with 19 goals.
Owen has nine despite playing only a bit part as he struggles to escape from the shadow of Ronaldo, who has 12 to his name.
03/28/2005 12:12 GMT