The Real Madrid have a tough end to the season ahead after losing in the final of the Copa del Rey MAPFRE 2024-2025 to FC Barcelona and missing out on their best chance to salvage the season, eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Champions League and trailing the LaLiga EA Sports leader by four points, the dream of the septuple with which the club started the season now seems distant, leaving them reeling after the collapse at La Cartuja.
Carlo Ancelotti’s team was dealt a blow in the cup final. The Whites found themselves behind in the first half, but a surge in performance and attitude in the second half allowed them to take a 1-2 lead with just over 15 minutes remaining. However, two mistakes, by Thibaut Courtois with a poor clearance for the 2-2 equalizer, and Brahim Díaz, who was caught waiting for a pass that led to the 3-2 goal in extra time, ultimately condemned them.
Leaving Seville, Real Madrid felt they had come close, perhaps closer than expected given the outcome of the previous Clásicos, and had missed a great opportunity to give meaning to the season. Domestic setbacks and, above all, the European elimination have put them in a position where they must now work harder, hoping for a domestic slip-up from Barcelona, against whom they will fight for their chances, provided they do not stumble against RC Celta this Sunday, and the following week at the Lluis Companys stadium.
If they also fail to overcome Hansi Flick’s team, they will once again prove unable to reclaim the league throne, something they have not achieved since the consecutive successes of 2007 and 2008. One has to go back to the late 80s to find the last recent major domestic dominance of the Merengues, when the ‘Quinta del Buitre’ won five league titles between 1986 and 1990.
This is even more striking given the optimism with which the club started the 2024-2025 campaign, as reigning champions of La Liga and the Champions League, with the arrival of Kylian Mbappé to the team, combining the Frenchman with Vinícius Júnior, Rodrygo Goes, and Jude Bellingham, aiming to win the seven titles they were gunning for (La Liga, Champions League, Copa del Rey, UEFA Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup, Intercontinental Cup, and Club World Cup). However, reality turned out quite differently.
The Blancos began the season by lifting the UEFA Super Cup against Atalanta, with a dazzling debut from Mbappé, who scored in the 2-0 victory. The start of the league campaign was not as dominant as expected from a team full of stars, but Ancelotti struggled to find the balance he had in the 2023-2024 season.
The search for solidity has been an ongoing challenge for the Italian coach, who is now under scrutiny with just five games left to finish the season, as he repeated time and time again that he had the solution, but it never materialized. In La Liga, the competition that rewards consistency, the Whites were only at the top for four matchdays, from 20 to 23, where they had a lead of up to seven points over a FC Barcelona that had suffered a sudden drop in form.
October, November, and early December were not the best period for Real Madrid. It was then that they suffered a 0-4 defeat in the Clásico at the Santiago Bernabéu, followed by a 1-3 loss at home to AC Milan in the Champions League. Additionally, in the league, the team, especially Mbappé, hit rock bottom at San Mamés, where they fell again (2-1), after the concerning 2-0 loss at Anfield in the Champions League.
However, the Blues shook off that sadness and doubt by clinching another trophy: the Intercontinental Cup. They convincingly beat Pachuca 3-0, their last major trophy of the season. These two titles prevent a blank season – the last time being in the 2020-2021 season – but they do not meet the high expectations that have always been present at the club. Therefore, the season ends with the need for improvement, along with the chance of the novel Club World Cup.
In January of this year, the dream of the septuple for Real Madrid vanished as they were soundly defeated in the Supercopa de España final in Saudi Arabia, losing 2-5 to FC Barcelona. The Whites managed to progress in the Champions League, with tough ties against Manchester City and Atlético, as well as in the Copa del Rey, displaying more faith than football, and showing a dangerous lack of hunger that came back to haunt them.
Firstly, in Europe, they were thrashed by an organized and hard-working Arsenal in the quarterfinals, who handed Real Madrid a 5-1 aggregate defeat, winning at the Santiago Bernabéu in the return leg. After this setback, and following a Copa del Rey campaign where they constantly flirted with danger, the cup competition seemed like the best opportunity to lift one of the three major trophies of the season.
However, once again, their ‘Achilles’ heel’ this year, Barcelona, stood in their way, claiming the Copa del Rey and bittering and sinking Real Madrid. They had been awake from the septuple dream for a while, but it was in Seville that it became clear that the team lacked ambition. Now, the difficult task of overturning a four-point deficit to Barcelona, with the Clásico at Montjuïc on May 11 being their last chance, awaits Real Madrid, who will also participate in the inaugural Club World Cup with 32 teams and lasting a month in June.
Both Ancelotti and the squad are now under scrutiny, feeling the need for effort and commitment heading into the next season, as despite the high expectations, they have not come close to the best year in terms of titles for the club. It was in 2017, under Zinédine Zidane’s management, when they won five trophies, a quintuple of La Liga, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup, and the former Club World Cup.
A ‘handful’ of trophies for Real Madrid from the three consecutive Champions League triumphs in the club’s best-ever year, and following the four titles secured in 2024 by Ancelotti’s team – La Liga, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, and Club World Cup – the dream and desire to conquer all competitions in the future remain open.
FUENTE