Three games, three losses. Real Madrid's season was ended in a week.
As if a pair of Clasico defeats to Barcelona were not enough, the LaLiga giants crashed out of the Champions League to Ajax on Tuesday.
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After a win over Levante on February 24, Madrid could not have imagined a week as bad as this.
The Santiago Bernabeu has seen four consecutive Madrid losses for just the third time ever and first since May 2004, and Santiago Solari's position as head coach is surely hanging by a thread.
It was a week that could not have gone any worse.
Wednesday, February 27 – Copa hopes dashed
After a 1-1 draw with Barcelona in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final, Madrid had hope heading back home.
They looked on track after a goalless first half, during which Vinicius Junior's missed chances would come back to hurt them.
Led by Luis Suarez, Barca punished Madrid after the break, the Uruguayan scoring either side of Raphael Varane's own goal to send Barca into a record sixth straight final courtesy of a 3-0 second-leg win.
FT: @RealMadrid 0-3 @FCBarcelona (agg. 1-4)
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) February 27, 2019
Suárez 50', 73' (p), Varane (OG) 69'#RMClasico | #RMCopa pic.twitter.com/BtlVNNdaGg
Saturday, March 2 – Another Clasico defeat
A chance for some revenge, and an opportunity to get back into the LaLiga title race.
Instead, Madrid fell to a first-half Ivan Rakitic goal, suffering a 1-0 loss.
Rubbing salt into their wounds, Barca went ahead in Clasico victories for the first time since April 1931.
Madrid were left 12 points behind their league-leading rivals with 12 games to go, their chances of LaLiga success all-but over.
FT: @realmadrid 0-1 @FCBarcelona
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) March 2, 2019
Rakitic 26'#RMLiga pic.twitter.com/m0a6PZaI4B
Tuesday, March 5 – Champions League defence over
Carrying a 2-1 lead to the Santiago Bernabeu for the second leg of their last-16 tie against Ajax, Madrid were strong favourites to progress.
But they were ripped apart by the Eredivisie giants, who recorded an incredible 4-1 victory in the Spanish capital.
Hakim Ziyech, David Neres, Dusan Tadic and Lasse Schone scored for Ajax, while Marco Asensio's goal gave Madrid brief hope before the three-time defending champions were eliminated at the earliest stage since 2009-10, Nacho Fernandez's late red card adding to their misery.
FT: @realmadrid 1-4 @AFCAjax (agg. 3-5)
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) March 5, 2019
@marcoasensio10 70'; Ziyech 7', Neres 18', Tadic 66', Schöne 72'#RMUCL pic.twitter.com/GBnbzD6kj7
It ended a week best quickly forgotten for Madrid.
