Real Madrid boast the most talented squad on Earth, but still manage to find new ways to stoop lower in the eyes of their fanbase, and that was clear in their 2-1 loss to Real Betis on Saturday.
Real Madrid created little to no danger after scoring the first goal of the match, which is something no one expects from a club of this stature. If anything, Los Blancos usually get into the feel of things after drawing first blood, and proceed to play in a flow state with much more freedom and creativity.
At Betis, it was the polar opposite of what everyone is used to seeing from this club, It was not just clear to the fanbase, but also to Carlo Ancelotti, who had a very short press conference talking about the match and how it could impact LaLiga.
Carlo Ancelotti thinks title hopes have taken a dent after 2-1 loss to Real Betis
If one of the most optimistic managers in world football is saying something like that, things are not going to plan.
Ancelotti, in his brief post-match press conference, talked about how important it is to bounce back from this defeat, and admitted how hard of a gut-punch this loss could prove to be.
When asked about whether this will impact Real Madrid's title hopes, he said: "Yes, this is a hard blow. We have to react. Losing at this stage is very expensive because all the teams are winning and we did not play well in this match.”
Throughout the season, it has just been one step forward, two steps back for Real Madrid. They have gone and defeated a team of Manchester City's calibre twice in two attempts, and have won two games on the trot since then as well. However, when an away win could have made things much easier for Real Madrid in their remaining schedule, they messed up and put out one of their worst performances of the season.
It is not something that people expect from this club, and it is clear that things need to change quickly, as there are only 12 matches left in the league, and the wiggle room has never been lower.