From Champions League three-peat to abysmal mess: How did it all go so wrong at Real Madrid?

The departures of Zinedine Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer of 2018 marked the end of an era in Madrid. While Zidane guided Real Madrid to an unprecedented Champions League treble, Ronaldo was the commercial face of the club, a trusted goalscorer boasting an unrivalled hunger for personal success. There was always going to be a drop-off as a result of CR7’s exit, but the utterly abysmal mess that Los Blancos found themselves in against Ajax on Tuesday night could not have been envisaged.

Santiago Solari watched on helplessly from the sidelines as the Santiago Bernabeu slowly emptied before the referee’s final whistle, watching players that had recently hit such memorable heights plumb new depths, outclassed by a young team that everyone had underestimated. But Madrid’s elimination wasn’t entirely unexpected. Premature, yes, but the signs this season have long pointed to the fact that Real Madrid were no longer strong enough to retain their European crown. This season has been one of scrapped plans and time frittered away.

Read more: ‘End of an era’: Spanish media reaction as Ajax dump Real Madrid out of Champions League

Julen Lopetegui was hired in chaotic fashion as Zidane’s replacement, unveiled on the eve of Spain’s World Cup campaign in Russia. Despite having no track record of winning trophies, Lopetegui’s work with Spain’s national youth sides and full senior squad caught the eye. Given Madrid’s strides towards securing young Spanish talents over recent years, there appeared to be few better candidates on offer.

Downward spiral

Zidane had mastered the delicate art of dressing-room management, keeping quality players happy to extract the high performance levels demanded in Europe. Armed with young, talented Spaniards, Lopetegui appeared to have the fresh philosophy needed to build far-reaching foundations for the future, rather than relying on individual stars’ game-by-game showings. It spoke of trying to find a sustainable future, a realistic approach given the club’s otherworldly recent achievements. Then Lopetegui’s sacking came after just 10 La Liga games.

The club failed to secure a replacement for Ronaldo, a consistent contributor of 40-plus goals per season, instead expecting a coach to make do with the resources that he had at his disposal – his key players tired off the back of a demanding World Cup. Magicking up the goals required in Ronaldo’s absence has long been the issue, requiring players such as Karim Benzema or Gareth Bale to wildly outscore their averages. The only way was down.

Although Los Blancos were down in ninth, their only unacceptable results came in a 3-0 away loss to Sevilla, a side strong at home that started the season well under Pablo Machin, a 1-0 defeat to Alaves (who currently sit in fifth), and a 2-1 loss against Levante, who had taken 11 wins from 19 games under new boss Paco Lopez. Their 5-1 demolition at the hands of Barcelona in the first El Clasico of the campaign in October was the final straw.

But after two more Clasico defeats and a 4-1 hammering by Ajax in the space of a week, what progress has been made since that point?

Back to square one

Across Lopetegui’s 10 league games in charge, the opposition hit the post three times. In Solari’s first three, the Argentine saw opponents strike the woodwork four times. In many ways, that small helping of fortune and a few smiles were all that was needed to coax a small resurgence from Real Madrid, without solving any of the underlying issues at the club.

Read more: Why is Gareth Bale so unloved at Real Madrid?

Solari is a former Real Madrid player who had worked his way up into coaching at the club just like Zidane. The 42-year-old oversaw four consecutive wins as caretaker, taking the shackles off and encouraging his players to enjoy their football. A happy dressing room appeared to be the quickest route towards improvements. The reality is that it has been a case of papering over cracks that need closer attention.

Deciding to drop Isco almost entirely from the starting XI, despite the Spaniard being a key piece of the puzzle for Lopetegui domestically and as Spain boss, Real Madrid have regressed back to the style of football they played under Zidane. There is no tactical blueprint, nothing to fall back upon when players don’t perform. They are now a frailer, broken group, with no Ronaldo to pop up with a goal from nowhere, that do not look capable of grinding out results with the exceptional regularity that they once did. Their aura has evaporated, the inevitability of them scoring goals is no longer an intangible force that sucks the ball into the back of the opposition net.

Bale finds himself at the eye of the storm, criticised from all angles, while Toni Kroos and Marcelo are two other long-term stalwarts who have taken heavy flak. Luka Modric has failed to hit the heights that saw him wrestle the Ballon d’Or from the dual grip of Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, while the talismanic Sergio Ramos inches into the twilight of his own career. Club president Florentino Perez faced calls for his resignation during the match against Ajax, after overseeing a jumbled, nonsensical mess of a campaign. The fall from grace has been incredibly steep.

Real Madrid find themselves in the same situation in March 2019 as they were in last May, an unenviable one of trying to coax a top-level coach to a side that is sorely lacking in firepower. Some of the faces have changed, but the problem remains the same. Without an elite-level goalscorer, competing for elite-level trophies proves difficult. It may be 2019, not 2018, but the club approach the summer with that same sense of uncertainty – and their players a year older.