Real Madrid season review 2022/23: A treble tinged with disappointment | OneFootball

How do you assess a season like this for Real Madrid?

We attempt to do just that for a campaign in which they won three trophies but largely leaves a sour taste given none were their main objectives.

Competition breakdown

LaLiga – 2nd

Real relinquished their title to old rivals Barcelona in meek fashion, ultimately finishing up 10 points off the pace.

For what it’s worth, Carlo Ancelotti believes he knows exactly where things went wrong.

“We lost our focus after losing the Clásico and our players weren’t at the same level after the World Cup. Barcelona had more consistency,” he said bluntly.

“But we scored the most goals in the league so we didn’t have problems there. Our issues were at the back.”

Champions League – Semi-final

The holders breezed through this season’s group stage before disposing of Liverpool and Chelsea with ease in the knockout phase.

But a third English outfit was a bridge too far for Los Blancos as they were thrashed by Manchester City in their semi-final meeting.

Copa del Rey – Winners

There were still reasons to celebrate for Real this season, Rodrygo’s heroics in their Copa del Rey final win over Osasuna bringing that trophy back to the Santiago Bernabéu.

Supercopa de España – Runners-up

In Saudi Arabia in January, Real navigated past Valencia to reach the Supercopa final but were second best against Barcelona as they fell to a 3-1 defeat.

UEFA Super Cup – Winners

Goals from David Alaba and Karim Benzema fired Ancelotti’s men to victory over Eintracht Frankfurt and book their place in the Club World Cup.

Club World Cup – Winners

After seeing off Frankfurt, Al Ahly and Al-Hilal were disposed off as Real hit nine goals in two games to ease to another CWC triumph.

Player of the Season: Vinícius Júnior

It almost feels that it is worth reminding that Vinícius is still just 22 years of age, so important is he now to the Madrid cause.

The Brazilian will also now assume full talisman status after Benzema’s departure and despite all of the shameful abuse he is forced to endure, still enjoyed an outstanding individual season on the field.

He finished up with a return of 23 goals and 15 assists across all competitions.

Game of the Season: Barcelona 0-4 Real Madrid

With their LaLiga form poor, it was left to the cup competitions to provide some memorable moments, such as the epic 5-2 comeback win over Liverpool at Anfield.

But we have to give the nod to Real’s incredible hammering of Barcelona in their Copa del Rey Clásico.

Trailing 1-0 from the first leg of their semi-final clash at home, they pulled off a performance for the ages behind enemy lines as the Camp Nou was stunned into silence by a Vinícius goal and Benzema hat-trick.

Top goalscorer: Karim Benzema

Even at 35, the Frenchman remains one of the most lethal centre forwards in the game. He finished as top scorer in both LaLiga (19) and all competitions (31).

It is going to be an extremely difficult task to replace him and life won’t quite be the same after 14 incredible years.

Rising star: Álvaro Rodríguez

The 18-year-old forward announced himself in some style with a debut assist despite being on the field for just three minutes.

He followed that up with a crucial late equaliser to rescue a point in the derby against Atlético de Madrid before finding his playing time surprisingly limited after that.

But he has shown enough to suggest that he is worthy of increased opportunities.

What comes next?

After a season without the Champions League or LaLiga to show for it, it will be all about getting one (or both) of those back as quickly as possible.

And it looks like no expense will be spared in doing so as Jude Bellingham moves to the Spanish capital.

That is a statement signing which is a big signal of Florentino Pérez’s intentions, although finding an heir to Benzema is arguably an even more important task.

But will Ancelotti be entrusted with getting things back on track?