El Real Madrid cierra su peor temporada en la Liga de Campeones con Ancelotti en el banquillo.

The Real Madrid bid farewell to the Champions League on Wednesday, in the quarter-finals, falling for the first time in the 2019-2020 season, closing the door on the treble and experiencing the worst European season with Italian Carlo Ancelotti at the helm.

After a week in which the faith of the white team had grown, football took center stage and spoke during the 90 minutes at the Santiago Bernabéu, where a Madrid team similar to the one in London was seen, with lackluster football and apparently without a clear game plan.

The defeat was particularly painful, with a team that seemed to throw in the towel early and was penalized for a very weak performance. Furthermore, the club’s recent history only adds to the disappointment for both the team and its fans.

It is worth noting that Real Madrid had not fallen before the semi-finals of the 2019-2020 Champions League season, until Manchester City eliminated them in the round of 16, losing on both occasions, just a year after the continental failure against Ajax that left the Bernabéu in silence.

The elimination came as a blow to a team that had won six titles in the last eleven seasons and had reached consecutive semi-finals in the premier competition of European clubs. «It’s a disappointment. It’s the sad part; we must be able to do well, as we did in the happy times. We must hold our heads high, in years when we have performed better than others, we must endure and suffer. This can happen; there is no invincible team,» said Ancelotti.

The Italian coach is one of the most affected by this early exit, as this is the worst result for Real Madrid in the Champions League with him at the helm. The 15-time European champions had never been knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Champions League under Ancelotti’s management.

In his first season in 2014, he led the team to their tenth European title with Sergio Ramos’ heroic goal in the 93rd minute to force extra time in the final against Atlético Madrid in Lisbon. Even in the disappointing 2014-2015 season, the last of his first spell at the club, they reached the semi-finals but fell to Juventus.

In his second spell at the helm of Real Madrid, the team lifted the Champions League trophy in 2022, experienced a magical comeback against City in 2023 but fell in the semi-finals, and reclaimed the European crown last year. However, this season, unlike the previous ones, they failed to reinvent themselves.

Furthermore, the elimination against Arsenal closed the door on the treble, something unprecedented for the club, as they had a chance until the final stretch for the first time since 2014. On that occasion, La Liga slipped away, and in 2025, the team faces the fear of falling physically and mentally after this decision.

«I’m not afraid of the team’s response; we have to keep fighting and learn from this moment to be better in the upcoming games,» Ancelotti said at the Bernabéu, just ten days before the Copa Del Rey final against Barcelona and with the possibility of reaching the Champions League semi-finals, while trailing the Catalans by four points in the classic match.

FUENTE