Real Madrid is in a dark tunnel opposite the path to championships

Real Madrid, the Spanish champion of Europe a record 15 times in football, revealed its fangs on Wednesday, but left Munich staring at the specter of a second consecutive season without a major title.
With the capital team nine points away from Barcelona, ​​the league leaders, Los Blancos seem headed to end a turbulent season empty-handed, following the dramatic European exit from the quarter-finals at the hands of Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
Vincent Kompany’s Belgian team is, according to many, the strongest in the competition this season. Real Madrid tried hard to eliminate the Bavarian team in an exciting match at the Allianz Arena, but surrendered in the last minutes.
Alvaro Arbeloa’s team led three times in the first half, and had every chance of qualifying until Frenchman Eduardo Camavinga was sent off in the 86th minute.
But a late brace from Bayern handed Madrid a 4-3 defeat in the match, a night in which Arbeloa said his players gave “their souls and their lives”, ensuring a 6-4 aggregate loss.
However, the honorable offer may not be enough to save the coach, as the royal team prepares for a painful period and perhaps changes in the coming weeks and months.
For club president Florentino Pires, failure in the Spanish capital is rarely forgiven without someone paying the price.
This may be the first time that Real Madrid has gone through two consecutive seasons without major titles since the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 seasons.
The Spanish newspaper AS wrote after a tumultuous night in Munich: “Musharraf’s exit does not offer consolation or prevent a new revolution.”
Perhaps the biggest problem for Real Madrid remains the same one that Italian Carlo Ancelotti was unable to solve last season, and Xabi Alonso did not succeed in addressing during his short period: How can Frenchman Kylian Mbappé, Brazilian Vinicius Junior, and Englishman Jude Billingham be included in one squad without losing balance?
Arbeloa could argue that Bayern’s second leg showed that this is possible, with the English international’s brilliance, Mbappe scoring, Vinicius’ shot hitting the post and passing a decisive ball.
However, the energy and effort exerted by the big names in this match far exceeded what was shown in regular performances this season, and is unlikely to be repeated on lesser occasions, not to mention that the team conceded four goals.
French star Mbappé won the European Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup shortly after his arrival from Paris Saint-Germain in 2024, but despite his abundance of goals, he has not come close to winning a major title since then.
Last season, Barcelona swept the local treble, while Madrid was eliminated from the Champions League quarter-finals by Arsenal of England.
As for this season, in Arbeloa’s first match at the helm of the coaching staff, second-tier Albacete ousted Real Madrid from the King’s Cup competition.

The future of Arbeloa
When Arbeloa was promoted to first-team coaching in January, Real Madrid did not announce the length of his contract.
The Spaniard said that he would stay as long as the club wanted to, and he repeated the same position after the elimination in Bavaria.
Arbeloa added to reporters: “I always tried to help the club in the best way possible, and this will be the case until the last day.”
He continued, “I am not worried at all (about my future), and I will completely understand any decision the club makes. If I am in pain today, it is not for me, but for Real Madrid, and because this year we will not win our sixteenth European title.”
The coach sometimes struggled to motivate the team in the Spanish League, as it achieved only 13 wins in 21 matches, but his bold and attacking formation against Bayern almost paid off.
Arbeloa kept Camavinga and Thiago Biarch on the bench, and chose an attacking midfield trio consisting of Bellingham, Uruguayan Federico Valverde, and Turkish playmaker Arda Guler, who scored two goals.
Madrid’s anger at the decision to expel Camavinga and his combative performance may help Arbeloa, but whether that is enough to save his position is what the days will reveal, knowing that there is no clear alternative that Perez can resort to.
The final weeks of the season in the Spanish League may have a role in this decision, including the Clásico match against Barcelona on May 10, when the Catalans may win the title.
The road to the end of May may also be bleak, but Arbeloa said that his team “has no choice” but to continue the fight and defend the club’s logo as long as he is in charge.