BENFICA versus Real Madrid in the Champions League was a retro match, conjuring up images of 1961 when Eusébio tore the five-time winners apart in the Amsterdam final. Since those quiet and pioneering European evenings, the two clubs have rarely been each other’s closest competitors, but on this occasion even the final score, 4-2 to José Mourinho, was a reminder of all our events of yesterday. This was, in modern terms, a shock result, one that confirmed that Real will have to work hard for their place in the last 16.
Some people are talking about a developing crisis at Real, but their league results might suggest there isn’t much wrong; They have lost twice in La Liga and are one point behind Barcelona, but not everyone has a big smile on their face. Losing to Segunda División’s Albacete in the Copa del Rey didn’t help, but by then Real had already gotten rid of Xabi Alonso as coach. When a team manager is sacked with his team near the top of the table, you have to wonder what expectations are placed on him. Real is one of three clubs that will compete for the league title. Their only challenger will most likely be Barcelona, so that’s where the battle is taking place and so far one point doesn’t look like a drama. The days of beating up your opponents every week are over; After all, a win is a win. Real have won 16 of their 21 games and scored 45 goals, an average of just over two per game, with Mbappe scoring 47% of their goals in La Liga. Does this make Real a little too dependent on their French superstar?
Alonso arguably left the club for something other than results. There were breakdowns in relationships with key players, not the first time this has happened at Real. Kylian Mbappé seems to be the current barometer in the dressing room and from the outside it seems that if he is happy, the president and his colleagues are happy too. Mbappé has already spoken out about the defeat in Lisbon – “this is not a champion team” – but he cannot completely escape blame. Ultimately, one person criticizing the team does very little for overall team morale, but the defeat to Benfica underlined that Real have not been at their best this season.
Their Champions League campaign is the cause of their problem and their current fear. Their three defeats, against Liverpool and Benfica and at home to Manchester City, all came in recent rounds; they lost three of their last five matches in the league stage. Interestingly, when Real don’t win the Champions League, they are usually eliminated by Premier League clubs. So it’s clear that the financial influence of the English league is now affecting clubs of Real Madrid’s size and stature. They finished outside the top eight of the automatic qualification places and now face a play-off to gain entry to the last sixteen.
Real have undergone some changes in recent years, with the likes of Luka Modrić, Lucas Vázquez, Nacho, Tony Kroos and Karim Benzema all leaving and younger replacements found. The regular line-up this season consists of only one player, Thibaut Courtois (33), over 30 and most of the squad is between 20 and 27 years old.
Will Real give Álvaro Arbeloa the manager’s job on a full-time basis? It seems unlikely, but who will they install in his place? Aston Villa’s Unai Emery has emerged as the club’s latest favorite, but there have been surprise suggestions including José Mourinho, Jurgen Klopp, Enzo Maresca, Thomas Tuchel and Zinedine Zidane. Real need a big name to match their status, but the candidate pool appears smaller than in recent years. Clubs like to claim that they need managers who will continue to adopt the style of football that reflects their culture, but in an environment without long-term thinking this is virtually impossible.
Real generate more money than any club in the world, so in theory they can have whoever they want to play for and manage their team. In 2024-25 their revenues amounted to €1.2 billion, of which almost €600 million came from the club’s commercial activities. They also earned more than anyone else from broadcasting (€335 million) and match days (€232 million). In other words, Real has the financial power to make almost any problem temporary.
The club may be in a kind of transition phase as the old guard makes way for the next generation. The problem is that the next generation of players is still some way away from delivering the next wave of superstars in the wake of the Messi-Ronaldo era. Moreover, Real now have enormous competition – for players and for prizes – from the Premier League, which should not be underestimated. Real have the financial resources to be the biggest team in the world, but do they have the patience to nurture the talent on and off the pitch against a backdrop of fear and overexpectation?
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Game of the People was founded in 2012 and is ranked among the 100 best football websites by various sources. The site consistently wins awards for its work, across a wide range of topics. View all posts by Neil Fredrik Jensen
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