When you’re Real Madrid, you only have one of two moods: ‘simply the best’, or ‘total crisis’. After taking their place as 15-time champions of Europe in June, they have drastically drifted into the flames of calamity.

The Spanish giants are already nine points off the pace set by early leaders Barcelona in La Liga – a 4-0 loss at home to their Clasico rivals didn’t exactly do them the world of good – and currently sit in the bottom half of the Champions League’s new table, behind the likes of Brest, Celtic and Dinamo Zagreb, after losing 3-1 at home to AC Milan on Tuesday.

Nearly every starter at Santiago Bernabeu has faced the brunt of the local media, been scapegoated and dug out for either a lack of quality or commitment to the cause. Now, manager Carlo Ancelotti is starting to feel the heat.

The Italian has won two Champions Leagues since his return to Madrid in 2021 and is heading for GOAT conversations for the next few generations, yet even he is not without fault. There are legitimate questions to put at Ancelotti’s door.

Short shelf life

Outside of an eight-year spell in charge of Milan in the 2000s, Ancelotti has largely operated as a short-term manager, whether by design or accident. In seven of his 11 managerial roles, he lasted just two years, and has tended to bounce around from one super-club to the next.

Reaching a fourth season in charge of this Madrid side makes this Ancelotti’s longest reign in charge of any club other than the Rossoneri. Even after winning the 2013-14 Champions League in his first stint with Los Blancos, he was cast aside a year later when they only narrowly failed to meet expectation. There was no good grace afforded, no sentiment to fall back on.

History tells us that Ancelotti likely won’t have much left in the tank to activate his proverbial second wind, while Madrid are typically not a club who are patient with their managers. The dressing room wouldn’t turn on him per se, but it’s a results business for Madrid more than any other club and they will act swiftly if things don’t pick back up again.

‘Badly organised’

Ancelotti, at least, is not blind to Madrid’s plight. He isn’t rocking up to press conferences filled with misplaced bravado and trying to convince the masses that everything is hunky dory, that his side have actually been really, really, really unlucky like the last days of Erik ten Hag at Manchester United.

Speaking after their most recent loss to Milan, Ancelotti said: “I don’t think it’s unfair that they question me, I think it’s normal. When the team doesn’t perform, the coach has the responsibility. We don’t defend well. We’re badly organised. Yes, we should be worried… This is not an individual problem.”

Performances have been ropey all season long, and if anything, Madrid are a tad fortunate to not be in an even worse position. Late goals and inexplicable collapses from opponents (looking at you, Borussia Dortmund) have papered over the cracks of a team that has lost its way and diminishing its own sparkle.

If Ancelotti isn’t even bringing the vibes to the table, then he will quickly grow redundant in this new age of the club. It’s not only the results that need improving upon.

Doomed to fail?

You know those old Madrid teams featuring the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, Ronaldo, David Beckham, Roberto Carlos, Michael Owen, Raul and so many more? They didn’t win as many trophies as you’d believe.

After success in the 2001-02 Champions League, Los Blancos won only a single domestic or European title over the next five years. The Champions League club were routinely dumped out in the last 16 and fell way behind Barcelona on home soil.

Florentino Perez, for as much as he is a sporting and marketing genius today, struggled to build a balanced enough team to suit his superstars. They would still combine for moments of brilliance and pictures of these legends together are fawned over to this day, but they were not the best Madrid teams of this century. Sounds all too familiar a tale, right?

Underperforming superstars

When so many key players are failing to hit their usual levels, the blame tends to be on the manager. Ancelotti’s extra problem is that nothing – from tactics to personnel to injuries – seems to be working in his favour.

Kylian Mbappe has been the centre of attention since his free summer transfer from Paris Saint-Germain. A return of eight goals and two assists in 15 matches across all competitions isn’t too awful, though if he has ambitions of winning the Ballon d’Or and continuing Madrid’s rich history of winning the biggest honours, then that’s not enough. That’s before you even begin to question his negative impact on the team’s chemistry and his unsuitability as a lone striker.

Meanwhile, Jude Bellingham, fresh from scoring 23 in his first season at the Bernabeu, is without a goal through 12 games this term. But again, he’s an example of an out-of-form player who’s struggling regardless of what the stats are saying. Goals are drying up across the team even beyond the main attractions.

The retirement of Toni Kroos has also proven difficult for Madrid to navigate. It’s abundantly obvious that Aurelien Tchouameni is not ready to control a midfield alone, and Ancelotti overlooking his France team-mate Eduardo Camavinga is a story gathering momentum in the European press.

Perez’s frustrations

Camavinga is not the only Madrid player who has been confusingly shunted out of the picture by Ancelotti. Relevo claim that Perez is annoyed at the manager refusing to speed up the integration of young talents Endrick and Arda Guler, despite their promising performances in limited appearances to this point. In the case of Guler, Ancelotti seems pretty staunch in his stance that he will not be granted further opportunities at a canter.

Managing egos and personalities was once Ancelotti’s bread and butter, though this is perhaps another sign of his waning influence that he has not been able to keep all parties happy when it comes to his rotation and selection. Transfer speculation is already rearing its head again regarding those on the Madrid fringes.

Ancelotti is also said to no longer be untouchable. The Madrid board were willing to give him grace, but the panic has set in. They know the season is slipping away. It’s plausible he could even be fired this month. When that kind of talk starts in Madrid, there’s usually only one ending.

Waiting in the wings

Perez remains football’s best manipulator, the man who can pull the strings and plan his team years ahead of anyone else. In Spain, there has been a long-held belief that whenever Ancelotti does leave Madrid again, he will be replaced by his former midfielder, Xabi Alonso.

The 42-year-old worked miracles to win the Bundesliga with a formidable Bayer Leverkusen side last season, going the entire domestic campaign unbeaten and only being denied an invincible treble by Atalanta in the Europa League final. Die Werkself look a little more ordinary this term, but Alonso’s stock remains high and he would undoubtedly be the first person Madrid call if a vacancy arises.

Alonso has built a Leverkusen team which fits in so many different attacking players while maintaining the balance and equilibrium to be stout going the other way, which sounds precisely like the sort of coach Madrid need to sort this mess and make the era of Mbappe successful. Don’t forget, Madrid’s top transfer targets for 2025 are attacking full-backs in Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alphonso Davies – this currently isn’t a setup those two can merely walk into and expect to perform.

As always, Madrid’s crisis won’t last forever. It’s just that Ancelotti might not be the man to steer them back from the brink.