Real Madrid lost 2-0 to FC Barcelona in the El Clásico at the Spotify Camp Nou on May 10, officially making FC Barcelona 2025-2026 La Liga Champions for the second season in a row. But what went so wrong with Real Madrid this season, and why is it now their second season going trophy-less? Well, today I will give my opinions on what I think the problems for Real Madrid are, and how they can fix them for a successful next season.

First of all, Xabi Alonso becoming the new manager of Real Madrid after the success he had at Bayer Leverkusen, with winning the club’s first Bundesliga title with no games lost throughout the entire season, truly seemed amazing for Real Madrid. At the beginning of the season, Real Madrid won most of their games, and it looked good for Xabi Alonso at the start. But it did not last long, especially with the egos that Xabi Alonso had to deal with at Real Madrid compared to what he was used to, which was little to no egos at Leverkusen.

During the El Clásico in October 2025, Xabi Alonso had Vini Jr. subbed off, and this made Vini very upset, starting the conflict in the locker room. Real Madrid won the El Clásico, but the celebrations did not last for very long because Real Madrid started to lose too much. Xabi Alonso’s tactics were not working with the players, and on January 11 of this year, Real Madrid lost to Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup Final. This was the final straw, and led to Xabi Alonso’s sacking. I do not believe the poor performance from Real Madrid up to that point was Xabi Alonso’s fault, though. I believe it was the players’ fault for not accepting his tactics, like Mbappe and Vini Jr.

Anyway, after Xabi Alonso’s sacking, Real Madrid brought in their top youth coach, Alvaro Arbeloa. Things did not get any better for the club, and Alvaro Arbeloa just let the players’ problems and attitudes happen. Alvaro Arbeloa decided to just let the players do most of whatever they wanted and have no real discipline. He never publicly went against the players or called them out on their problems.

To deflect the poor performance from the Real Madrid players after bad games, Arbeloa told the media, “The players tried their BEST. I told them I can’t blame them for anything. They had excellent behavior tonight and tried their hardest to win. I still believe that the team I put on the pitch is excellent. My players are wonderful, extraordinary players.”

So with Alvaro Arbeloa becoming the coach of Real Madrid, he did not really help the club become better.

Then the Mbappe problems started to happen. The club started winning games without him playing, more than they were before with him playing. I believe that if Mbappe were playing during the Round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League this season, they would not have gotten past Manchester City. When Mbappe plays, there are too many star attackers, and that can hurt a club when it is not balanced out enough, and that is what happened and is still happening with Real Madrid at the moment.

Now how can Real Madrid fix these problems? Well I believe that bringing in Jose Mourinho as the new coach for next season can very much install good discipline once again for Real Madrid, something the club has not had very much this season. Also Jose Mourinho can create tactics for the club that works for the attacking stars, especially Mbappe.

I asked ERHS Boy’s Soccer Coach, Nicholas Lopiccolo, what he thinks went wrong for Real Madrid this season, and what he thinks they need to fix to do better next season.

“This year feels like an adjustment year,” Lopiccolo said. “They brought in a superstar like Mbappe, lose an amazing leader like Modric, some key injuries, and a new coach contributes to guys finding new roles.  With that, it takes time to adjust.  If some guys don’t adjust, they will be replaced.  Not the superstars like Mbappe, but the others that are supposed to be role players to him.”

If Real Madrid can install discipline that the players will follow, and tactics that really work for the players, then next season could be an amazing season for the club and the fans. When it comes down to it, the fans just want to see the club that they love win trophies, see their favorite players do well together, and make new amazing moments, and that is what Real Madrid has done before, and I believe that next season Real Madrid can do just that.