Why Are Real Madrid Underperforming This Season?

As the end of the season approaches, Real Madrid find themselves in the midst of a La Liga title race, UEFA Champions League quarter-final and the Copa del Rey final.

For most clubs this would be a successful campaign with optimism heading into the final stretch. However, Real Madrid aren’t just any club.

Arguably the biggest and most historical club in all of football, Los Blancos have won 36 La Liga titles, 15 UEFA Champions League’s and 20 Copa del Rey trophies.

Having failed to convince despite the number of achievements made, we take a look into Real Madrid’s season and discuss whether they have ‘underperformed’ this season.

The season so far

Following the signing of Kylian Mbappe, Real Madrid had the eyes of the footballing world on them once again.

Having won the UEFA Champions League just the season before the addition of Mbappe raised expectations even further.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side started the season with a 2-0 win against Atalanta in the UEFA Super Cup, the sixth in club history, thanks to goals from Federico Valverde and a debut goal from Mbappe.

A disappointing start to the campaign saw Real Madrid sitting 3rd in the La Liga table, seven points behind the league leaders after 12 games.

A 4-0 defeat to Barcelona in El Classico summed up Los Blancos’ league campaign - ending an almost record equalling 42 game unbeaten run in La Liga.

Real Madrid’s form in the UEFA Champions League wasn’t much different, as Los Blancos finished outside the automatic qualification places, coming in 11th position.

Real Madrid have lost a game by 3+ goals for the 3rd time of the season:

- 4-0 vs Barcelona
- 5-2 vs Barcelona
- 3-0 vs Arsenal

Dominated. pic.twitter.com/Y4fgYruINX

— Madrid Zone (@theMadridZone) April 8, 2025

This set up a play-off clash with Manchester City, defeating the Premier League side 6-3 over two legs.

Despite the hardships of the early season Madrid would see results pick up early into the new year, progressing to the quarter final stage of the Champions League with a win against Atletico Madrid and reaching the Copa del Rey final, thanks to victories against Leganes and Real Sociedad.

What’s been going wrong?

Real Madrid have made hard work of defending their La Liga title. With just one loss all of last season, Los Blancos have amassed a total of five losses in 30 games this campaign.

With that being said they’ve had chances to maintain ground on Barcelona but have faced slip ups in their bid to win a second successive title, failing to defeat the likes of Valencia, Real Betis, Osasuna and Espanyol in recent weeks.

Before today, Valencia were:

- 17th in La Liga.
- 0 away wins all season.
- Haven't won at the Bernabeu in 17 years.
- Missing 3 important starters.

Valencia 2-1 Real Madrid. pic.twitter.com/IUBrhIlCTD

— Madrid Zone (@theMadridZone) April 5, 2025

With a number of injuries to important players such as Dani Carvajal, Ferland Mendy and Eder Militao it’s fair to say that luck hasn’t been on their side.

However, Madrid dealt with similar injuries last season and was able to weather the storm.

Addition of Kylian Mbappe

The signing of Kylian Mbappe came under scrutiny towards the start of his career in the white of Real Madrid.

A lack of goals from the Frenchman started debates as to whether he was having a negative impact on a team that seemed to click so well last season.

Having established himself as one of the best players on the planet, many felt that moving Vinicius from his favoured left-wing position for Mbappe was a move that would cause friction and frustration in the camp.

It’s a fair assessment to say that Mbappe’s addition played a part in Madrid’s early struggles, as he adapted to the system.

However, Mbappe has now found his footing in Spain having scored 33 goals in 48 appearances - including a hat-trick against Manchester City in the Champions League.

🚨🆕 Kylian Mbappé has now scored 33 goals, as many as Cristiano Ronaldo in his debut season at Real Madrid. pic.twitter.com/t8PNLcDXyj

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) March 29, 2025

Replacing Toni Kroos

Toni Kroos’ retirement at the end of the 2023/14 season was always going to make an impact.

The German midfielder made 465 appearances for Real Madrid over ten years winning 22 trophies along the way.

Toni Kroos’ Real Madrid career by numbers:

◉ 465 games
◉ 34,091 passes
◉ 974 chances created
◉ 94% pass accuracy
◉ 93 assists
◉ 28 goals
◉ 23 trophies

10 years of Kr∞s Control™ pic.twitter.com/FP9lFamkyH

— Squawka (@Squawka) June 1, 2024

Having announced his retirement towards the end of the season, Real Madrid were given enough time to decide how they were going to address the situation for the following campaign.

Madrid’s decision not to act in the transfer market raised a few eyebrows, instead deciding to keep things in-house. The likes of Jude Bellingham, Eduardo Camavinga, Federico Valverde and Luka Modric were expected to share responsibility in filling the void left by the legendary midfielder.

The decision to move Bellingham deeper into the midfield, despite scoring 23 goals in a more attacking role, was a point of discussion.

Kroos himself praised Bellingham and believed he was the right person to contribute in his place.

"He's Bellingham a guy who can handle this pressure. This personality at just 20 years of age - it's no problem for him to withstand the pressure." Said Kroos.

What’s next?

A 3-0 loss away to Arsenal in the Champions League and trailing by four points in La Liga, Real Madrid have their backs against the wall when it comes to meeting expectations this season.

With a month left in the season, Los Blancos still have it all to play for and we’ll see if they can pull off another classic comeback.