This season certainly has not entirely gone to plan for Real Madrid, but they are still very much in contention for the two biggest honours. In January, Xabi Alonso was sacked after just 34 matches in charge, with successors Álvaro Arbeloa's reign commencing in embarrassing fashion, dumped out of the Copa del Rey by lower-tier Albacete Balompié.
Since then however, there are certainly signs that Arbeloa is starting to figure it out. Los Blancos, very impressively, demolished Manchester City 5-1 in the Champions League, a result surely no one saw coming. Los Merengues will now need to step it up again, given that Bayern Munich are their quarter-final opponents, with the first leg at the Bernabéu coming up on Tuesday.
Meantime, following a crucial Madrid derby victory last time out, Real Madrid remain four points adrift La Liga leaders Barcelona, with a Clásico looming large on 10 May. Barça have won all 15 league home games this season, scoring 47 goals, so that visit to Camp Nou isn't daunting or anything. If Arbeloa is going to get his hands on one or even two big trophies come May, here are three players he needs to get the best out of.
Kylian Mbappé
This feels blasphemous to say, but have Real Madrid's results actually improved due to Kylian Mbappé's absence, and could his return be an issue? With the Frenchman nursing a knee injury, he has not started any of the last seven matches, missing five on the spin entirely before returning off the bench at the Etihad.
Mbappé's importance to this team is not under question. He has scored 38 goals this season, on course to better his tally of 44 from last year, second only to Harry Kane across Europe, who has scored 89 goals during the same time frame. He then bagged his 56th goal for France against Brazil in Foxborough last Thursday, now just one behind Olivier Giroud's all-time record, seeking to surpass it against Côte d'Ivoire in a friendly at Stade de la Beaujoire in early-June.
Before then, Arbeloa has to figure out how to slot Mbappé back into his team. Obviously, given that he might just be the best player in the world, the Frenchman has to start for Real Madrid. However, when he wasn't there, the team did function better and Vinícius Júnior really came to the fore, bagging braces during both of the last two matches against Manchester City and Atlético Madrid.
Arbeloa has decided that a 4-4-2 is the best system to accomodate both Vini Jr. and Mbappé, which causes issues for others, more on that in just a second. Nevertheless, for los Blancos to beat Europe's best, the duo need to work together in a way they've shown little sign of doing thus far.
Jude Bellingham
As mentioned, if Arbeloa does go for a 4-4-2 shape, where does that leave Jude Bellingham? The 22 year old's versatility is both his greatest strength but also a headache for coaches. During his first season in Madrid, he essentially operated as the Karim Benzema replacement, scoring 23 goals as Carlo Ancelotti's team won both La Liga and the Champions League.
He is though at his best as a box-to-box midfielder, a role that may not exist in this current team. Youngster Thiago Pitarch partnered Aurélien Tchouaméni in the recent derby, with Fede Valverde and Arda Güler further wide, forming a hard-working, defensively disciplined quartet. Eduardo Camavinga is also an option, meaning Bellingham could miss out bigger matches, namely the upcoming tie against Bayern Munich.
Bellingham did not feature at all for England during this international break, having started just one of their last nine matches, very much not a central figure for Thomas Tuchel ahead of the World Cup. This could be the case at his club too, so it'll be fascinating to see how Arbeloa chooses to use him.
Trent Alexander-Arnold
A player who might not even be heading stateside for the World Cup this summer is Trent Alexander-Arnold. Tuchel seemingly does not fancy the 27 year old at all, choosing to curtail Benjamin White's four-year international exile rather than adding the former Liverpool defender to his camp.
This is even though Alexander-Arnold has been a regular figure for Arbeloa, starting their last four Champions League matches. However, fit-again captain Dani Carvajal got the nod against Atleti last time out, and this is what many Madridistas are hoping to see on a more regular basis. The Englishman's defending has been regularly suspect, most notably allowing Raúl García to ghost in behind him to score a stoppage-time winner for Osasuna at El Sadar last month.
Partially due to persistent injury issues, Alexander-Arnold has yet to show his best form in the Spanish capital. His in-possession quality and passing range have never been up for debate, but in the biggest matches, with Bayern and Barça coming up, he could find himself left out of the team.