Ten days after the embarrassing 4-0 defeat to Barcelona in the Clasico, the Bernabeu suffered another heavy defeat. From Los Blancos’ perspective, the best thing about Real Madrid’s 3-1 loss to AC Milan was the result – which underlines how dire the situation is.

The evening ended as it began: with whistles from the stadium audience. These were initially directed at the Champions League anthem, apparently in protest against Vinicius Junior missing out on the UEFA-organized Ballon d’Or against Manchester City’s Rodri.

During regular time they were aimed at coach Carlo Ancelotti and his players, although the noise was not as loud as you would expect from arguably the world’s most demanding fans.

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That could be because the fans left; it could be due to resignation. Either way, it sums up a complete disconnect on this team.

Whether it’s Hansi Flick’s impressive Barcelona teams or Milan and Borussia Dortmund, who both came to the Bernabeu in seventh place in their league, it seems as if each team can demonstrate the deficiencies of the reigning Spanish and European champions.

It’s hard to remember a Real Madrid so disjointed, from the board to the players, from Ancelotti to the rest of the specialists involved in the day-to-day work at the Valdebebas training ground.

Perhaps you could look back on the 2018/19 season, which began with Cristiano Ronaldo’s surprise summer departure to Juventus and with more coaches (three: Julen Lopetegui, Santiago Solari and Zinedine Zidane) than titles won (one of them: the FIFA Club World Cup). ended).

There was a similar disappointment in the 2022-23 season, albeit more successful overall. After winning the UEFA Super Cup, the Club World Cup and the Copa del Rey, but missing La Liga against Barcelona and being beaten by them in the Supercopa de Espana final, the season seemed to hinge on the Champions League.

There is an unwritten rule that a Real Madrid coach doesn’t stay in office if he doesn’t win La Liga and/or the Champions League. Therefore, the 4-0 defeat to City in the semi-final second leg was interpreted by some as the end for Ancelotti. But the board stuck to its commitment to the coach, which is likely to be the case again now.

Luka Modric and Toni Kroos during the 0-4 defeat against Manchester City (James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)

On that tough evening at the Etihad Stadium, Toni Kroos appeared in front of the media. “We’ll be back – it’s always like this,” he told reporters. Just over a year later, the German won his fifth Champions League trophy with Madrid in his final game in club football.

The cabin is missing the retired Kroos in every respect. A stark contrast to this was last night’s speech by goalkeeper Andriy Lunin in the mixed zone – a very professional player, but whose voice hardly counts behind the scenes. The criticism of the players who did not speak out after El Clasico seemed to have no effect.

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It was just the latest evidence of Madrid’s lack of quality and personality. They have now lost more games in the first three months of the season than in all of last season: three defeats in 16 games compared to two in 55 games last season.

Publicly and privately, Ancelotti admits he is struggling to find the balance the team needs and the defensive stability he believes is so important. “Would it be unfair to blame me? No, that seems normal to me,” he told reporters last night. “If the team doesn’t perform the best, the responsibility lies with the coach.”

The Italian was, as always, self-critical and aware that he was being singled out. But he also sent a message to the team: “It is very important that we all take responsibility.”

Ancelotti said he did not believe his players were lazy and argued the dressing room remained healthy. But several sources at Valdebebas, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect relations, said so The athlete The atmosphere is tense and the results are not as expected.

Kylian Mbappe failed to score for the third game in a row (Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images)

Ancelotti doesn’t air dirty laundry in public, which is why he hasn’t complained to the media about the board’s plans. As a club player, he resigned himself to the fact that no central defender would arrive in the summer after Madrid gave up Leny Yoro. Although he agrees with general manager Jose Angel Sanchez, he’s now unsure if he’ll get defensive reinforcements in January or if they’ll make excuses again.

This squad planning has been in question since almost the beginning of the season. It makes no sense for club sources to complain about “the toughest and most demanding (season) in history” as there are only two elite centre-backs in the squad: Eder Militao and Antonio Rüdiger. There is still no return date for the other, David Alaba, as he is expected to be out for more than a year due to his serious knee injury.

One could point the finger at Lucas Vazquez, who is not performing well at right-back in the absence of the injured Dani Carvajal. It’s not so much the fault of the coach who plays him, but the fault of those who force the coach to make that decision. Ancelotti might have tried to move a centre-back to the right after Carvajal’s injury if Madrid had been better staffed in central defense. But that would leave a hole in an already unrecognizable defense.

Madrid’s defense is overloaded (Guillermo Martinez/Getty Images)

Aurelien Tchouameni, one of the often criticized players who was booed by the Bernabeu yesterday, could play there. The midfielder has shown his potential there in the past, but all too often he plays as if he has already won three or four Champions League titles.

Still, most players are performing below their potential – and Kylian Mbappe deserves his own section.

It makes sense that the Frenchman needs time to adapt, but when do we expect to see him in full? After scoring eight goals in his first twelve games, he has now failed to score in three consecutive games. Where is the player widely considered to be the best in the world and the highest paid member of the squad?

There is one final point that angers President Florentino Perez and his fans alike: the mysterious cases of teenagers Arda Guler and Endrick. The Turkish playmaker has played a minute in the last four games; The Brazilian has not played at all in the last five games.

All in all, it’s a worrying picture for Madrid – and it could get worse. Your next opponents in the Champions League? Liverpool at Anfield on November 27th.

(Top photo by Diego Souto/Getty Images)