"that the club is only a year and a half removed from the absolute pinnacle. The 48-hour period between June 1 and June 3, 2024, when the team won the Champions League final and then announced that it had added to that championship group the best player in the sport, Kylian Mbappé, could credibly stand as the very apotheosis of what Real Madrid aspires to be."
"If Real Madrid's fate since those days stands for anything, it's that nothing can be taken for granted in this sport, and that tomorrow is not promised to anybody, not even those who already appear to possess it. It's not the case that the Blancos' struggles in the Mbappé era were completely unforeseeable, and in fact the risks were obvious from the outset."
"When Mbappé first arrived, the Blancos were led by the sport's most brilliant jigsaw solver, Carlo Ancelotti. But not even he could coax any sustainable connections between the trio itself and the mishmash collection of players behind them. When the club's patience ran out with the Italian, they turned to Alonso, the crown jewel of that offseason's coaching carousel, one of the most"
Real Madrid reached a peak in June 2024 by winning the Champions League and signing Kylian Mbappé, but has since fallen into uncertainty following Xabi Alonso's firing. The arrival of Mbappé effectively replaced Toni Kroos and altered established synergies, creating challenges integrating Mbappé with Vinícius and Jude Bellingham. Carlo Ancelotti struggled to forge sustainable on-field connections among the new attacking trio and the supporting players. When Ancelotti was replaced by Alonso, the club sought a solution through a highly regarded coaching appointment. Persistent difficulties in blending personalities, hierarchies, and tactical balances have left the team still searching for cohesion.
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