Real Madrid was eliminated from the Champions League on Wednesday after losing 1-2 to Arsenal in the quarter-final second leg, in a match with no comeback in which the home fans showed more passion than a team lacking in football, bidding farewell without really threatening the English side.
The summary of the match could be that Arsenal once again played better and ran seven kilometers more than Madrid. A defeat that marks the end of an era. The mission was impossible. Ancelotti’s team has fallen apart: they don’t run, they don’t finish (Raya, a spectator), they don’t shine, they don’t play, and they don’t convince, even with Mbappé.
A 5-1 aggregate score that has left Real Madrid looking like a team without a head or a heart. The comeback ended with the opening whistle. The Whites showed nothing except for Courtois, who prevented them from starting the game behind and complicating what was already an impossible task.
Real Madrid are lacking soul, character, spark… Call it what you will, but it’s not nice to see a team that is not a team and has survived on the basis of individual players who have not always turned up.
As in the first leg and as has been the norm for Real Madrid in this season’s Champions League, the Whites covered 107.5 kilometers in the quarter-final second leg against Arsenal at the Santiago Bernabéu, compared to 116 for the English side.
It was a sad farewell to Europe for Real Madrid with only six shots on goal in 200 minutes against the English side. Mbappé did not appear and was unable to finish the game due to injury, but neither did Vinicius. In addition, once again they spent much of the game overlapping each other on the pitch rather than contributing to each other.
Real Madrid’s attacking trio did not even intimidate. Vinicius was inconsistent and impotent, his compatriot Rodrygo was once again missing in action, and Mbappé tried a few things, such as forcing a penalty from Rice that was denied by VAR.
Carlo Ancelotti suffered a fatal blow that will put him more than ever in the firing line. The Italian could end up being finished off by Barça in the Cup final and in LaLiga.