No salvation in sight for Carlo Ancelotti as Real Madrid lose their best chance to win a big trophy this season – Opinion | OneFootball

Having won the UEFA Champions League and La Liga double last season, and having achieved their dream of adding Kylian Mbappe to their squad, things looked quite bright for Real Madrid and Carlo Ancelotti at the start of the season.

With the Frenchman’s addition, the Merengues’ already excellent attack became even more fearsome, and few people doubted that the White team would be one of the biggest contenders for the big titles this season.

However, as the end of this season approaches, this has not been the case by any stretch of imagination. Los Blancos were eliminated from the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League, as they were clearly below the required standards in the two games against Arsenal.

Before that, they had barely made it to this stage of the tournament and could easily have been eliminated in the Round of 16 tie against Atletico Madrid, which was decided on penalties.

In La Liga, they are currently placed second, four points behind the leaders, Barcelona. However, with the form the two teams have been showing lately, there is not a lot of reason to hope that the Merengues will be able to take over the Catalans in this late stage of the league race.

In such circumstances, the Copa del Rey remained the most reasonable chance for Real Madrid to get their hands on a significant piece of silverware. However, the Whites failed in this competition as well, as Barcelona won the final last night with a 3-2 win in extra time.

As opposed to their performances in most of their matches against big sides this season, Los Blancos actually put up a significant fight, and at one point in the game, looked to be set to win the game. This was especially the case after Aurelien Tchouameni put his side ahead for the first time in the 77th minute.

Real Madrid midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni celebrating after scoring against Barcelona [Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images]

However, individual mistakes allowed their opponents to turn the game around and get a win in extra time. With this loss, most of the hopes of ending the season with a piece of silverware have evaporated for Real Madrid, and things are looking very bleak for Carlo Ancelotti.

As has been the case for the majority of the season, the Italian again faced criticism for some of his decisions. For instance, not starting Kylian Mbappe is not looking like a good decision in hindsight, especially considering the impact he had on the game after his substitution in the second half.

On the other hand, Ferland Mendy seemed to be rushed back from his injury, especially for a game of this intensity, as he could not last even 10 minutes in the match before suffering another physical problem.

There have been rumors of his departure from the club since the defeat to Arsenal, but even if he is set to leave, he would have wanted to see his team win at least one trophy to end his last season in the Real Madrid dugout on a positive note.

It is true that the Merengues are still alive in La Liga. Barcelona still have some demanding matches to play, including an El Clásico, while also taking care of Inter Milan in the UCL. But clearly, things are not in his team’s hands anymore, and only a miracle can allow Carlo Ancelotti to salvage a season that started with so much optimism but is looking likely to end in failure.