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The fall may not have been deep, but the landing has been hard.
The second season without a championship for Real Madrid, the most successful team in La Liga and the Champions League, was confirmed in the worst possible way: the defeat of Barcelona, and their victory, defended the title of Spain.
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Los Blancos kept the competition in their claws as they crawled up to Catalonia, knowing that doing so could bring more pain to their fans. And it really happened.
Close to two at half-time at Camp Nou – and it could have been more – hanging in there to limit damage and embarrassment was essential, but a 2-0 defeat It will be a huge blow to a team that has won 36 league titles and 15 Champions League titles.
The defeat means Real will finish second this season, not an uncommon occurrence in the two-horse race in La Liga. However, their failure this season – including their quarter-final exit from Europe’s top table – has left more questions than answers in the Spanish capital after another disappointing season.
How do Real deal with a problem like Mbappe?
The signing of Kylian Mbappe from Paris Saint-Germain two seasons ago seemed like a return to the days of collecting the world’s top talents and calling them “galacticos”.
Real had just completed the league and European double under Carlo Ancelotti, the most successful manager in European history and famous for managing top names, leading the league in his previous spell as manager of Los Blancos.
However, last season did not go to plan.
Mbappe’s arrival disrupted the 4-3-3 formation that had served Real so well for so long, with England midfielder Jude Bellingham playing a central role, while Vinicius Junior excelled in front of and around him.
Both have been forced to change positions to accommodate Mbappe, who tends to drop more in midfield to link up and play or run with the ball.
It stepped on the toes of two key players. Even Ancelotti has had Real’s famous chop as rumors swirled throughout the season that his failure to disrupt the team could end the Italian’s love for Spain.
Log in Xabi Alonso.
Known as the answer to Madrid’s problems after sweeping German football with Bayer Leverkusen, Alonso is also admired as a central midfielder as a player for the Madrid and Spain national team.
Rumors have grown since the players didn’t buy into Alonso’s plan, and conflicts are often seen with Mbappe, even though the player has also managed to score. His 24 goals have seen him twice top the Spanish goalscoring chart this season.
Alonso’s time had already come the end cameimmediately after the start of the new calendar year. Alvaro Arbeloa has been tasked with steering a seemingly rudderless ship until the end of the season as interim head coach.
Mbappe’s troubles had only just begun. By the end of the season, “Mbappe out” the petition resulted in more than 33 million signatures, and the Frenchman was the one who made the Madridistas very happy.
Reconnecting Mbappe with the fans and connecting him with the style of play of his teammates will be the key to the new game.
Can Real end Vinicius Jr’s fall with the fans?
Before starting the campaign against Mbappe, Vinicius was offended by the support at home, and boos to the forward Calling around several games on both sides of the Champions League out of the hands of Bayern Munich.
The Brazilian went 19 games without a goal for club and country between October 10 and January 11.
Surprisingly, he broke his streak in the 3-2 Spanish Super Cup final losing to BarcelonaAlonso’s last game in charge.
The explosion was evident, however, and rumors grew that the 25-year-old could be leaving the only club he’s ever known.
Manchester United were the first to be linked with a move for the versatile player, but all of Europe’s elite will be on the lookout for any signs that Real could consider Vinicius as a way to turn the club around their most rewarding asset on and off the pitch: Mbappe.
Will Valverde and Tchouameni survive the dressing room explosion?
As the fateful day at Barcelona approaches, the last thing Real need are unnecessary headlines, let alone two bright spots in another dark campaign.
Uruguay’s Federico Valverde and France’s Aurelien Tchouameni clashed in training on Thursday, leaving the former needing a trip to hospital with a head injury, keeping the players out for the coming weeks.
Really quickly both players on Friday, but Tchouameni was still named in Barcelona’s starting line-up.
If Real decide that one or both of them must leave to avoid a toxic fallout in the dressing room, then, as was the case with Vinicius, the phone lines of Europe’s top clubs will be working long hours to press one or the other.
Is the return of Jose Mourinho the answer for Real?
The hour is coming, is the person coming?
Given the level of discontent at the club as a whole, the job of replacing Alonso will always require a miracle.
Mourinho was not a popular choice during his time in the Real dugout, due to his pragmatic approach, seen as defensive by some, which was incompatible with Real’s free-flowing philosophy.
Given the differences between Los Blancos and Barca – not to mention the top teams in Germany and France and the financial power of the English Premier League – Real fans may be a little more forgiving of Mourinho’s approach.
The return of Ancelotti – a man born from the Italian Serie A who only knew the defense-first mentality – became successful and popular, and Real is known for their desire for directors with a long and proven history.
Mourinho, who says there has been no contact so far with Realhe ruffles feathers, as his time at Manchester United proved. But he saw his second-placed finish behind city rivals Old Trafford as one of his greatest achievements.
Raising Real one place from the winners of the competition in La Liga will not be beyond the 63-year-old, who won La Liga, Copa Del Rey and Spanish Super Cup with Real in his 2010-2013 period. The play also resulted in three Champions League games.
The Portuguese also woke up Real in the first season of the campaign, when his team Benfica won 4-2 in the league that pushed Los Blancos into the Champions League, which they eventually won and won against Benfica in a two-legged replay.
Who else could be Real’s next manager?
Jurgen Klopp’s promotion of the meeting could certainly help to reconnect with Real which is much needed by their fans. He is best known for his successful matches, both domestically and in Europe, with Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool, for uniting players and fans in a shared, sustainable spirit. It could be a solution to the current crisis, a surprising move that contrasts with Mourinho’s recent moves.
Another highly respected German is Julian Nagelsmann, who is currently in charge of his country, but could call time on the 2026 World Cup.
At 38, it may seem like a risk – not unlike 44-year-old Alonso – but a three-year spell with Bayern Munich, before starting a German job in 2023, could do him good.
It is thought that Didier Deschamps could also come to the end of his time in charge of the French national team, with his former French teammate Zinedine Zidane also being linked with a second spell at Real. Although he is 57 years old, Deschamps has little experience as a club manager, unlike someone of seen from the frontMassimiliano Allegri, who led Juventus to five consecutive league titles in his native Italy.
The job of managing one of the most successful clubs in football is becoming impossible. But the reconstruction is starting now, and the rise will begin from the ashes of the accident and the burning that led to Sunday’s victory, inside the territory of the enemy, at Camp Nou.
