Before the second leg of the quarter-final against Arsenal, Real Madrid fans were convinced by the 0-3 loss in the first leg. Los Blancos were crushed by The Gunners at the Emirates in every aspect, so they lost without any warmth.
However, when preparing to play again at the Bernabeu, Real fans still believe in a comeback night because they have a destructive quartet Vinicius Jr - Kylian Mbappe - Rodrygo Goes - Jude Bellingham, along with a series of other fans. Not only that, in recent years, Real Madrid has had countless comebacks. Their victims are many such as Manchester City, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich.
However, after the first 15 minutes of the first half, the Real Madrid players may have thought: "It's over". They could not create anything special against Arsenal, even when the final whistle blew and they lost 1-2. Vinicius' only goal came from a foul by William Saliba. Otherwise, Los Blancos will continue to maintain a terrible record of never scoring against Arsenal in the Champions League.
The deadlock against Arsenal is not uncommon for Real Madrid this season. Los Blancos' attacking stars often tend to play individually when facing big teams. Carlo Ancelotti also realized this, so he replaced Rodrygo with Endrick. However, everything was ineffective.
Not only was the attack disjointed, but Real Madrid's defense also played like fools against Arsenal. From being drilled in both wings by Bukayo Saka or Gabriel Martinelli, Real could not resist direct attacks into the middle. In addition, when they regained the ball, the defense was not capable enough to make the first blast for the counter-attacks.
In the successful period of the past 11 years (6 Champions League championships), Real Madrid has had many stars but has had a very clear consistency. They are so close together that it is unnecessary to say that the players in all 3 lines also understand each other. After winning the 2024 championship, combined with Toni Kroos leaving the team, Luka Modric is nearly 40 years old, Real Madrid's midfield is no longer capable of being a bridge between the two lines.
Instead of having super midfielders create assists in the middle of the field, Real Madrid against Arsenal were almost helpless and could only cross in. That is a clear picture of Los Blancos' endless stalemate. Arsenal are Europe's top air fighting team, so Real's last goal was a defeat.
Injuries have been one of the reasons for Real Madrid's shaky squad this season. Since then, any calculation of a fixed strategy by Ancelotti has been considered bankrupt. In the early stages of the Champions League campaign, Real Madrid even lost 3 matches. What they did after that had a significant impact on the "DNA Champions League". However, that DNA only works in a few matches and Real Madrid have enjoyed it from the end of the qualifying round until before the quarter-finals.
The next 9 days will be the Copa Del Rey final against Barcelona. From now until then, Ancelotti and his students will have to find a new way to play, if they do not want to continue to plummet against the arch-rival Barcelona who are too strong. Otherwise, Ancelotti's seat at the Bernabeu could be blown away before the end of this season.
