If Zinedine Zidane was in any doubt Real Madrid are in crisis after the Champions League defeat against Tottenham at Wembley then a glance at Thursday morning’s newspapers would have brought home the reality.
Zidane has presided over Madrid’s worst start to the season since a certain José Mourinho left in 2012, with his side already eight points behind Barcelona in La Liga and now facing the prospect of not finishing top of their group for the second successive season after the 3-1 defeat.
Quick GuideChampions League group stage classics involving English clubs
Show
Newcastle 3-2 Barcelona (Sep 1997)
Described as 'the most spine-tingling, frenzied and, ultimately, nerve-wracking 90 minutes ever witnessed at St James’ Park' Newcastle’s victory came courtesy of Faustino Asprilla’s brilliant hat-trick. Barça gained their revenge at the Camp Nou but both ended up finishing behind Dynamo Kyiv
Man Utd 3-3 Barcelona (Nov 1998)
Despite throwing away a two-goal lead, it proved enough to take United through ahead of Barça, before going on to win the final
Leeds 1-0 Milan (Sep 2000)
A catastrophic error from Dida gave Leeds a crucial win courtesy of Lee Bowyer’s goal, with David O’Leary’s side going on to the semis
Newcastle 1-0 Juventus (Oct 2002)
Defender Andy Griffin was the hero as Newcastle beat Barça again, but they would gain their revenge in the next stage
Internazionale 1-5 Arsenal (Nov 2003)
A brilliant individual goal from Thierry Henry inspired a 5-1 rout at San Siro, but Arsenal failed to reach the knockout stages that year
Juventus 0-3 Man Utd (Feb 2003)
Substitute Ryan Giggs scored twice in the second group stage tie, only for United to be knocked out by Ronaldo’s Real Madrid
Liverpool 3-1 Olympiakos (Dec 2004)
Needing to win by two goals, Steven Gerrard’s late strike catapulted Rafael Benítez’s side through and onto victory in the Istanbul final
Chelsea 1-0 Barcelona (Oct 2006)
Didier Drogba scored the winner but Michael Essien was the star as Chelsea beat the holders before losing to Liverpool in the last four
Tottenham 3-1 Inter (Nov 2010)
The game that announced Gareth Bale’s arrival on the big stage. His brilliant hat-trick saw off the holders
Man City 3-1 Barcelona (Nov 2016)
After several years of trying, City got one over on Barça thanks to two goals from Ilkay Gündogan, after Lionel Messi’s opener
“Nightmare at Wembley”, screams the headline on the Madrid-based newspaper AS, with a picture of a peeved-looking Sergio Ramos, Nacho and the goalkeeper Kiko Casilla. The same picture features on the front of Marca, with the damning headline “Sound all the alarms” highlighting the difficulties Zidane’s side have faced since winning a historic 12th European title in June. They also endured defeat by promoted side Girona last weekend.
“Real Madrid have transferred their crisis to Europe, where the sun always comes out, where they can always escape the storm,” wrote Jesús Sánchez. “But at Wembley they unloaded all the clouds that appeared in Girona, even in the favourite competition of Los Blancos, who had gone 30 games without losing in the group stage of the Champions League. Tottenham, vibrant in their performance, destroyed the champions after a fantastic second half when they imposed their speed and punch to burst all the fragile seams of the team that was the envy of the continent but has now become vulgar and easy to beat.”
The verdict from El Pais’s José Sámano was even more damaging, saying Zidane’s team “are gone”. He wrote: “They have become a fatiguing team, without flow in the midfield, bitter in attack and cracked in defence.” Only Isco, who for the second match in a row appeared to be the only Madrid player on his game, escapes criticism, with an article on the AS website even highlighting Marcelo had lost the ball an incredible 29 times during the defeat, following on from 16 against Girona.
Luka Modric and Toni Kroos are also singled out for their performance against Tottenham’s young English midfield comprising of Harry Winks and Eric Dier, with the Germany international described by AS’s Javier Silles as “the personification of the problems Real Madrid are going through”. Having found the net only once this season after signing a lucrative four-year contract in September, Karim Benzema does not escape either, with Tomás Roncero styling him as “the first striker in the club’s history who doesn’t need to score goals”.
The Catalan press wasted no time getting in their digs, with Josep M Artells in Mundo Deportivo suggesting the former Espanyol manager Mauricio Pochettino had performed the perfect audition in front of Madrid’s president, Florentino Pérez. “Pochettino winked at Florentino with an approach that overwhelmed his opponent,” he wrote.
Dele Alli also caught the eye, with Ivan San Antonio of Sport describing the midfielder’s performance as a “coming out party”.
He added: “Tottenham put together a game that was intense, without rest, no time to think or even breathe.”