Real Madrid is the worst team of the season.

If there were a "Golden Raspberry"-style award for the 2025-2026 European football season, Real Madrid would certainly be... awarded it.

Vinicius is a prime example of Real Madrid's disastrous season - Photo: Reuters

The reigning European champions seem to have run out of chances to win a major title at the end of the season, after losing to Barca in the "El Clásico" match in round 35 of La Liga.

Ugly failure

More than just a defeat, this is one of the slogans used by Barca fans to taunt Real Madrid. Even during the golden years under Messi, Barca rarely dominated Real Madrid to this extent. They won all four El Clásico matches this season, scoring a total of 16 goals against Real Madrid. And not only that, Barca won even when... the referee was in their favor.

Real Madrid benefited from a series of favorable decisions in the recent El Clásico match. At least two of them directly affected the outcome of the game. These included Real Madrid's first goal, and a handball by Tchouameni in the penalty area that was overlooked.

Top-level football is all too familiar with refereeing errors, sometimes even inexplicable ones. Real Madrid's behavior is particularly noteworthy. For the past six months, they have launched a campaign to attack referees in Spain.

Ahead of the recent match, Real Madrid TV, the television channel of the Spanish royal club, continuously broadcast analytical videos . The channel claimed that the referee assigned to the match, Alejandro Hernandez, tended to unfairly penalize their team.

This isn't the first time Real Madrid has used this tactic. The most recent instance was before the Copa del Rey final (also against Barca), when Real Madrid launched a campaign to attack referee Ricardo de Burgos. This caused him to break down in tears during the press conference.

Criticizing referees after a defeat is common in football. But complaining, resorting to dirty tricks, attacking, and putting pressure on referees before the match even starts is rare. Therefore, when Real Madrid, despite benefiting from a series of favorable decisions, still lost to Barca, it brought joy to the entire football world.

Even Mbappe couldn't save Real Madrid from a failed season - Photo: REUTERS

The fairness of football

Just a few months ago, Real Madrid shook the football world by snatching Alexander-Arnold from Liverpool. Although the English defender only announced his departure a week ago, this information had been widely accepted by the media for a considerable period.

It's worth noting that Arnold is considered one of the world's top right-backs. He has a market value of hundreds of millions of euros and is a player who was trained by Liverpool. This is a "deal" almost identical to how Real Madrid lured Mbappe, Rudiger, and Alaba in recent years, or even further back, Zidane, Figo, and Ronaldo "the Fat"... Through these "blockbuster" transfers, Real Madrid has completely proven its number one position.

But football remains fascinating for one reason: being strong doesn't guarantee victory. The strange thing is that in previous seasons, Real Madrid, despite being short of players, played exceptionally well. Last season was a prime example. After Benzema's departure, they only brought in an average striker, Joselu, as a replacement, and then went on to win the Champions League. Now, with Mbappé, Real Madrid suffered a complete defeat against Barca.

Even stranger, it was a complete defeat against a makeshift Barca. Just look at the starting lineup recently used by coach Hansi Flick: Barca had to start Ferran Torres because Lewandowski hadn't fully recovered from injury. In midfield, they didn't have a single true defensive midfielder. And in defense, they were missing two key wing players...

Looking at the bigger picture, Barca this season also had to patch up their squad because they haven't yet escaped their financial crisis. Nearly half of their first team consists of players from the academy. But then those youngsters went on to wreak havoc on the European champions.

Mbappe will certainly finish behind Yamal in the race for individual awards this season, and Real Madrid will also end the season empty-handed against Barca. But that's not the worst part. The worst part is still the way Real Madrid behaves off the pitch.

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HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/real-madrid-doi-bong-te-nhat-mua-20250512222655637.htm