Real Madrid have been slammed by the Spanish media following their Champions League exit at the hands of Arsenal. Carlo Ancelotti’s men were unable to recover from their first leg drubbing at the Emirates Stadium as they were outclassed by the Premier League giants in Madrid.
Real failed to penetrate the Arsenal defence in London last week as Declan Rice scored two free-kick screamers before Mikel Merino netted a third. And at the Bernabeu Stadium on Wednesday evening, Mikel Arteta’s men again gained the upper hand, with Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli finding the back of the net either side of a Vinicius Junior strike as the Gunners secured a 5-1 aggregate victory.
Following the second leg, Spanish publication AS took aim at Real as they ran the headline ‘A fantastic failure’. They then honed in on Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham as they said the players had ‘crashed to the galactic’.
The outlet noted that the four blockbuster stars had only managed one more shot on goal between them than Declan Rice had managed for Arsenal, with only five strikes from the quartet making their way towards David Raya’s goal.
And the publication maintained that over the two legs, the four players were not even a ‘shadow of what would have to be a nightmare attack’.
Meanwhile, Marca avowed that the current Real team is ‘not for miracles’ and insisted the side were a ‘victim of their lack of football’. The outlet then claimed ‘the end of the cycle is evident’ following years of success.
Real boss Carlo Ancelotti couldn’t escape the heat as he was ‘singled out for the team’s lack of football’. His job was then questioned as he was told the result left him ‘in a delicate position for the future’.
Players were targeted as well, with the publication stating there were some whose ‘presence in the squad next season seems complicated’ due in part to their performances this year.
Catalan newspaper L’Esportiu then took delight at Real’s failure to reach the semi-finals on their front page on Thursday morning as they used an image of Bellingham doubled over with a pained expression on his face.
The outlet ran the headline ‘See you soon’ as they mocked Real’s exit after Barcelona had secured their place in the last four earlier this week courtesy of a two-legged victory over Borussia Dortmund.
And the newspaper captioned the picture by adding ‘Madrid performs an exercise in impotence at the Bernabeu’.
