If it was not the worst, then Real Madrid had just suffered one of the most painful Champions League defeats in recent years.
Two goals from Declan Rice and one from Mikel Merino cemented a 3-0 win in which Arsenal were far superior to the visitors. Despite this, just seconds after the final whistle, Lucas Vazquez approached the away end at the Emirates Stadium — where more than 2,000 Madrid fans were in attendance — and promised them with gestures that they would win in the second leg of the quarter-final.
“Yes, I think we can come back, of course,” Kylian Mbappe would later say in the mixed zone when asked by The Athletic.
“We have to be more humble, we’re going to need something special and if there’s one place (we can do it) it’s our home,” said Jude Bellingham.
“If you look at tonight’s game, it looks like there’s no chance,” admitted Carlo Ancelotti in his press conference. “But in football, unpredictable things happen.”
But it wasn’t just the Real Madrid players and the manager, as a member of the board had the same message for The Athletic on their way out of the Emirates: “Of course, we are confident of a comeback.”
It does not take much effort to be aware of Madrid’s great history of comebacks in European competition. The Athletic has looked at the most recent ones but also why, this time, it could be different.
This season, in the first leg of the play-off against Manchester City, Ancelotti’s team came back from 2-1 down at the Etihad over the course of ten minutes of great effort. They won the game 3-2.
Last season, in the second leg of the semi-final against Bayern Munich at the Bernabeu, Ancelotti’s team came from 1-0 down (3-2 on aggregate) to 2-1 (4-3 on aggregate) up in just two minutes thanks to two Joselu Mato goals in stoppage time.
In the previous season (2022-23), in the first leg of the round of 16 at Anfield, Madrid came from 2-0 down to win 5-2 thanks to a superb attacking display.
And the season that preceded it (2021-22) cannot be forgotten, known as the ‘Champions League de las remontadas’ (The Champions League of comebacks)’ for the triumphs against Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16 (in just 15 minutes they turned around a 2-0 deficit and the aggregate score became 3-2) and again against Manchester City in the semi-finals (they went from 5-3 down to 6-5 on aggregate) with Karim Benzema leading the way.
However, the last time Madrid were asked to come back from three goals down was against Borussia Dortmund in the 2012-13 season with Jose Mourinho as a coach and they failed to do so. They had been 4-1 down in the first leg. In the second leg, with the Bernabeu behind them, they were on the verge of a comeback with a 2-0 win.
You have to go back a little further in time to see the team come back from three goals down on a great European night: specifically to the 1984-85 season. Madrid were 3-0 down after the first leg of the third round of the UEFA Cup against Anderlecht. But the legendary Emilio Butragueno led the team with a hat trick to win 6-1 in the second leg. Madrid went on to win the trophy.
In all the epic matches, Madrid suffered a lot but all the players stuck together. As a result of that connection, they ended up turning the situation around.
Fans at the Bernabeu even still talk about the ‘spirit of Juanito’ (a club legend who was known for his courage and commitment during comebacks in the 1980s) to explain what is needed on nights like these. But this season there are many problems and they were palpable again at the Emirates.
“Why am I finding it difficult to instil ambition in these players?” said Ancelotti after Tuesday’s game, “I think this is a little bit the problem we’ve been having throughout the season, the difficulty of being a compact unit in good moments, but also in bad moments.”
Since the start of the season, the greatest cause for concern according to coaching staff sources, who asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships, has been that the whole team, including their stars up front, be more involved in off-the-ball duties. But at many points in the season they have failed to do so and against Arsenal they again struggled defensively.
In addition to the three goals, Mikel Arteta’s team managed 11 shots on target out of a possible 12 (a level of effectiveness that has never happened before in the history of European matches).
Arsenal’s first two goals came from set-pieces — admittedly shots from free-kicks rather than corners or deliveries into the box — another area where Madrid have struggled defensively this season.
“Rice’s goals were good, but they came from unnecessary fouls,” Courtois complained after the game.
“We’re lucky we only got away with three goals,” said Bellingham, who saved a goal on the line — as did David Alaba on another occasion. Courtois was also Madrid’s man of the match with five saves.
In the last 4 games, Madrid have conceded 11 goals. According to Opta, they are La Liga’s second-highest team for goal concessions in all competitions this season (61 goals conceded in 52 games), second only to bottom side Real Valladolid (75 goals in 32 games).
Another regular problem was an issue on Tuesday too — Madrid suffered from the absence of players and a general lack of squad depth.
There were five absentees: Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, Ferland Mendy and Dani Ceballos, who were all injured, and Aurelien Tchouameni, who was suspended.
Without many other natural options on the bench — apart from Fran Garcia — Ancelotti had to take a risk at left-back with David Alaba. But the Austrian is still to reach 100 per cent after his anterior cruciate ligament injury in December 2023 (and had not played in that position for two seasons) so he struggled a lot to stop Bukayo Saka.
That was not the only issue on that front.
There were once again physical problems — which have also been a recurring problem this season. According to the club, both Alaba and Federico Valverde were suffering from discomfort.
And on top of that, there was a lack of ideas or a clear plan in attack. Contrary to what the coaching staff expected at the start of the season with the arrival of Mbappe, the fact that they conceded more goals has not been compensated by more goals scored.
In the second half, Madrid failed to make a single combination inside the box. Neither Vinicius Junior nor Rodrygo managed to get a shot on target in the entire game. Only Mbappe had two shots on target — missing a one-on-one against David Raya.
“We weren’t good defensively or offensively,” admitted Lucas. “We struggled to keep hold of the ball”.
But probably the worst thing was the attitude in the second half of Madrid’s strikers — even aside from their lack of chances.
“We forgot how to play good football in the second half,” said Courtois.
It was not just Ancelotti, then, but also the players who were singled out after the defeat.
The bad feelings have resulted in 11 defeats this season, nine more than in the whole of last season. That’s why at Madrid they know that if they want to recapture the glory days of the past, the team will have to change a lot of things at the Bernabeu.
But the list of problems is so long that this time it makes it difficult for a team to turn it around — even if it is Real Madrid.
(Top photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
