(Football news) Real Madrid’s season is over after the embarrassing 5-1 aggregate loss against Manchester City in the Champions League semi final. This season has been full of ups and downs for Real Madrid. They started really well by winning the UEFA Super Cup and going on a 16 game unbeaten run. However the World Cup proved to be their downfall as before and after the mega tournament they really struggled. The Spanish Super Cup was a disaster as Real Madrid needed penalties to win the semi final against Valencia and they ended up losing the final 3-1 to Barcelona.
La Liga has been very disappointing as Barcelona have clinched the title with 4 games in hand. Real Madrid could still finish in 3rd place below Atletico Madrid which would be even more frustrating for them. Los Blancos haven’t won back to back league titles since 2008 and Barcelona have done it 4 times since then. Real Madrid often struggled to get the better of teams that defended deep especially away from home.
Constant injuries and lack of depth in certain areas like left back and striker led to their downfall in the league. Carlo Ancelotti also takes a share of the blame for not rotating players enough especially in the first half. The Fifa Club World Cup was always going to be easy for Real Madrid and that is how it turned out to be. They defeated Al Ahly 4-1 and Al Hilal 5-3 to seal the trophy.
In the Champions League, Real Madrid topped their group with relative ease. In the round of 16 against Liverpool and the quarter final against Chelsea, Real Madrid played incredible football across both legs. In the 1st leg of the semi final against City it was a good performance as the game ended 1-1. However in the 2nd leg they were completely outplayed by Manchester City. For any other club this campaign would be a success but considering Real Madrid’s high standards it cannot be so due to the nature of elimination. If they had gone out by a 1 or 2 goal loss after an even game it would’ve been acceptable.
The Copa Del Rey was the saving grace this season as Real Madrid won it after 9 years. The grit and determination showed by the Merengues was similar to the Champions League campaign last season. They narrowly defeated 4th division Cacerano 1-0 in the Round of 32. They came back from 2 goal down against Villarreal in the Round of 16 and then later came back from a goal down against Atletico Madrid. After losing the home leg of the semi final against Barcelona, Los Blancos came back and won 4-0 at the Camp Nou. In the final Real Madrid defeated Osasuna 2-1 after a pretty even game.
Despite winning the competition, Real Madrid didn’t particularly dominate any game apart from the one at the Camp Nou. The wins were always hard fought which isn’t ideal as it takes a lot out of the players in games that shouldn’t be that difficult. According to reports Ancelotti will stay for another year and complete his contract. There will most probably be 4 signings in the summer which will improve them. Next season Carlo Ancelotti will have to start the transition from the senior players.
Also read: Arsenal aim to bounce back as they play 16th place Nottingham Forest
