Nobody said it would be easy. Being the best team ever is not always an easy task, just ask Real Madrid. Being the King of Europe is not always possible and, as of today, reaching the sixteenth this season seems almost impossible. However, the Whites are used to big nights at the Santiago Bernabéu and they are holding on to that.
Real Madrid’s season has become more complicated in recent weeks after a very complicated season. From the start, injuries in the back line have hampered the performance of a defense that has become a real sieve. Ancelotti has constantly blamed the lack of balance to justify his team’s poor performance in many games.
In terms of play, the season has not been the best, but Real Madrid went into the international break still in contention in all competitions and as firm candidates for the treble, something that has become more complicated in April, which has been a gray month for the Whites and which could end very badly.
To start with, on the positive side, Real Madrid managed to sneak into the Copa del Rey final, but not without suffering. After the 0-1 in the first leg with their slight advantage and the Bernabéu effect everything seemed simple, but nothing could be further from the truth. They had to go to extra time after conceding 4 goals and only just managed to get through with a goal from Rüdiger that made it 4-4 on the scoreboard. They play for the title against Barça on the 26th.
In the league, their defeat in their last home game against Valencia with a last-gasp goal from Hugo Duro left Barça 4 points ahead, meaning that Carlo Ancelotti’s team are no longer in a position to win the title and must strive for perfection.
Finally, and this does not concern us now, the Champions League. It was already difficult to get rid of Atlético de Madrid in the round of 16, which they beat in a controversial penalty shoot-out, but what nobody expected was what happened in the first leg of the quarter-finals against Arsenal, where Real Madrid were far inferior and lost 3-0, now looking for a miraculous comeback at the Santiago Bernabéu.
The fact that complicates Real Madrid’s comeback
An epic comeback is what Real Madrid is looking for, clinging on at the Santiago Bernabéu. However, they are playing with a very negative fact working against them: Arsenal, throughout the season, have not conceded more than two goals. They have played 48 matches between the Premier, Champions, FA Cup and EFL Cup and have never had to endure such a big deficit. In fact, they are the team that has conceded the fewest goals in a league as demanding as the Premier, having conceded only 27 goals in 32 matches.
On the other hand, Ancelotti’s men are not losing faith in their complicated mission because they already know what it is to score goals in the Champions League as they did against Stade Brestios (0-3), RB Salzburg (5-1) and Borussia Dortmund and in the league against Real Valladolid (0-3) and Osasuna with a 4-0 win at the Bernabéu. It’s time to have faith and believe until the last minute because if they are left out of the Champions League, the future of many will be more than in the air.