With nine La Liga matches still to play, Real Madrid's season is effectively over. On Wednesday night, los Blancos were dumped out of the Champions League, beaten 3-2 by Bayern Munich in Bavaria. Eduardo Camavinga was controversially sent off four minutes from time by referee Slavko Vinčić, with Adra Güler dismissed after full time, and the players did not take the defeat well.
Dani Carvajal shouted "it's your fault" towards the referee, Jude Bellingham labelled the decision "a joke... it's impossible for it to be a yellow" in the mixed zone afterwards, while Antonio Rüdiger exclaimed "it's better that I don't speak, have you ever seen anything like this?". Nevertheless, this is a second successive Champions League quarter-final exit for los Merengues, who are now highly-likely to go trophyless in back-to-back campaigns for the first time since 2010.
Having won just three of their last seven outings, recently losing to Getafe, Osasuna and Mallorca, also ignominiously drawing with Girona at home on Friday, Real Madrid are now nine points adrift La Liga leaders Barcelona. Even with a Clásico to come at Camp Nou on 10 May, this gap will surely prove to be unassailable.
So, as noted by Pedro Martin, Real Madrid have now lost 27 of their last 107 matches, just over one defeat every four games. Prior to this, they had suffered only two defeats from 68 outings, a staggering sequence, both coming against Atlético Madrid. The team's drastic decline is clear for all to see.
Real Madrid number of defeats by season
Season | La Liga loses | Total loses | Trophies won |
|---|---|---|---|
2025/26 | 5 | 12 | None |
2024/25 | 6 | 15 | UEFA Super Cup & Intercontinental Cup |
2023/24 | 1 | 2 | La Liga, UCL & Supercopa |
2022/23 | 8 | 12 | Copa del Rey, UEFA Super Cup & Club World Cup |
2021/22 | 4 | 9 | La Liga, UCL & Supercopa |
2020/21 | 4 | 9 | None |
Just two seasons ago, Carlo Ancelotti's team lost only two matches all season, winning both La Liga and the Champions League. This is only the fourth occasions los Blancos have achieved both in a single campaign, after 1957, 1958 and 2017 under Zinédine Zidane. Since then however, they've picked up 27 loses, and counting, with no seriously major trophies added to the club's collection.
So why is this? Well, a lot of blame is aimed at Kylian Mbappé, considering he signed in the summer of 2024. However, given that he has scored 84 goals in 98 appearances, including 40 this season, he is contributing more than most, even if the balance of the team is no quite right.
A more pertinent issue is at managerial level. Appointing and so swiftly sacking Xabi Alonso earlier this season, after only only 34 games in charge, will prove to be a massive squandered opportunity when he goes on and achieves greatness elsewhere, possibly at Liverpool. Álvaro Arbeloa is clearly out of his depth, having lost more matches in 13 fewer games, simply not ready for this job after only six months with Castilla. It is highly unlikely he will remain in situ beyond the end of the season.
Numerous managers will be or are available this summer; Andoni Iraola, Mauricio Pochettino and Didier Deschamps, to name but a few. It appeared likely that Florentino Pérez's pick would be to re-hire José Mourinho but, following his comments about the Gianluca Prestianni racism incident, this surely cannot happen.
Unverified reports suggest, following his dismal, Alonso labelled this club "unmanageable", which very much appears to be the case, whether he said so or not. Madridistas should certainly be concerned with the direction their club is heading.
Add us as a preferred source on Google