"We lost because of your fucking fault"

BarcelonaThere are many ways to face defeat. Real Madrid could have focused on their own mistakes in the Champions League quarter-finals, but they chose another path, that of looking for external enemies. Camavinga's expulsion for a double yellow card, the latter for indiscipline, was the perfect excuse to point to the referee as responsible for a European KO that, if there is no miracle in La Liga, will result in a blank season at Chamartín.

Before the expulsion, Madrid, physically exhausted, held the score as best they could with the whole team locked in their area. They were good minutes of football for Bayern, who had also had good opportunities to score. Football analysis suggests that, with or without an expulsion, the Munich club would have advanced to the next round anyway. But Madridistas clung to the red card to justify the defeat. "It's your fault. It's your damn fault," Dani Carvajal, captain of Real Madrid, who watched the match from the bench, snapped at the referee.

The defender reacted, full of anger, against the referee, the Slovenian Slavko Vincic, as captured by Movistar's cameras. He repeated the expression on several occasions while pointing at him with his finger. He was not the only footballer, far from it. The players on the field already showed their disagreement at the time of the action. Vinícius applauded the referee ironically and, when the match ended, almost all the footballers surrounded the official, who got rid of them as best he could. One of them, Arda Güler, author of two goals, was sent off while his teammates held him back.

Both in the press conference and in the post-match statements to the audiovisual media, Álvaro Arbeloa completely ignored self-criticism and considered that the expulsion had been the detonator of the match. "The referee has ruined the tie," he said bluntly. Bellingham, in the mixed zone, directly said that the red card was a "joke". Vincic had a controversial performance, because in addition to this expulsion, he was also key in two of the three Madrid goals: the foul that led to the 1-2 was non-existent, and in the 2-3 he did not see a punch from Rüdiger at the start of Madrid's play. But they didn't say a word about this. In general terms, the media following Real Madrid's current affairs accepted the thesis of the refereeing conspiracy and exonerated the Madrid players. In fact, they consider that the Whites played one of the best games of the season.

But, with controversy or without it, the reality is that Real Madrid seems destined for a blank year. And it would be two, were it not for the fact that at the beginning of last season they managed to lift the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup. The signing of Mbappé, one of the best goalscorers at the moment, has not compensated for the team losing a lot of talent in midfield with the departures of Kroos and Modric. This summer's reinforcements, when Florentino Pérez invested 200 million to bring in Huijsen, Carreras, Mastantuono or Trent, have not delivered the expected performance, while on the bench the bet on Xabi Alonso was ephemeral, conditioned by the revolt of some sacred cows who did not want the change of routines proposed by the Basque coach. The emergency replacement, Álvaro Arbeloa, a pampered child of the president, managed to put out the fire in the locker room but did not change the footballing dynamics of a disorganized team that, without the all-powerful Courtois in goal, injured, has conceded many more goals than usual.

Florentino Pérez is looking for a coach

Florentino Pérez went down to the Allianz Arena dressing room after the match to speak with the players. He met with Arbeloa, but they did not exchange words. The coach knows that he depended exclusively on some titles that have not arrived, and in the press conference, when he defined himself as a "club man" and said that he "would understand any decision that was made," he indirectly admitted that his days on the bench are numbered. The statistics show that it has not gone well. Xabi Alonso managed 28 matches and lost five (18%). Arbeloa has lost seven in 21 (33%). The president is looking for a tenant who will do what Ancelotti did: get the most out of the squad without the stars making a fuss, but it will not be easy because, in addition to a coach, he will have to make signings, and the white treasury is not exactly flush with cash.

Florentino's reputation as a good manager persists, although Real Madrid's numbers, if scrutinized, raise many doubts. The Bernabéu's renovation has created a very large hole in the treasury that could not be offset because the club has encountered neighbors who have managed in court to halt the stadium's exploitation beyond football matches. Without concerts, without the mega-project of parking lots, with the catering offer still half-done, and with a retractable turf system of questionable performance, revenues are below expectations. The 23/24 season was saved thanks to a "lever", the sale of a portion of vip seats to an investment fund. The 24/25 season was achieved with the 80 million earned from the Club World Cup. Now there is no event in sight, and that is why the club is preparing to cash in with a major sale. Signings will therefore depend on the money that can be obtained from players who are not part of the future. The decisions Florentino makes in the coming months will be decisive for a Madrid that, with Mbappé, seemed poised to conquer the world but for now lives in the shadow of Hansi Flick's and Lamine Yamal's Barça.