As Real Madrid lick their wounds following a humbling Champions League quarter-final exit, Carlo Ancelotti must rally his troops for the LaLiga title race.

Reigning champions Madrid were crushed 5-1 on aggregate by Arsenal without really offering a threat over the two legs, a major cause for concern as they trail Barcelona by four points in LaLiga.

An even bigger worry for Ancelotti is that Los Blancos have won just one of their last five matches in all competitions - a 1-0 victory over relegation-threatened Alaves last weekend.

Kylian Mbappe, Madrid's top scorer this season with 33 goals in all competitions, saw red in that game, with the Frenchman suspended for Sunday's home match against Athletic Bilbao, who booked their place in the Europa League semi-finals with a win over Rangers on Thursday.

Athletic are also still in the hunt for a Champions League finish, sitting fourth in the league with 57 points. And Madrid have not won either of their two matches without Mbappe in LaLiga this season (D2).

Madrid must hope that Barcelona drop points against Celta Vigo on Saturday, or they will be staring at a seven-point deficit to the leaders before they face Athletic, a team that have lost just once in their last 22 league games and beat them 2-1 in December.

So perhaps it is little wonder that Ancelotti's job hangs by a thread ahead of the Copa del Rey final later this month - a Clasico against Barcelona.

"It could be this year, next year, when my contract runs out [in June 2026]... There's no problem about it," Ancelotti said when asked about his future as Madrid's manager.

"But when I am done here, I will be grateful to this club. It could be tomorrow, in one year, or in 10 years, but I will be grateful to this club. And that's it, full stop.

"We have done very well in the last seasons, but this year we have had to suffer. Things haven't gone as expected, but in sport it happens because there are no unbeatable teams."

Barcelona were also down in the dumps on Tuesday after losing for the first time in 2025 in a 3-1 defeat at Borussia Dortmund, and it was up to coach Hansi Flick to offer his players some perspective.

Having thrashed last year's finalists 4-0 in the first leg, Barca qualified for the semi-finals with a 5-3 aggregate win and will play Inter in the last four.

"The team has a lot of merit. There is still a long way to go, and we are not at the end," he said.

"In the dressing room, there was no euphoria either. I reminded them that we are in the semi-finals. Then it changed a little, and they were happier."

Barcelona will be looking to exact some measure of revenge when they host Celta Vigo after the reverse fixture ended 2-2. Barca were up 2-0 before Marc Casado was sent off, and the 10 men conceded two late goals to draw.

And unlike Madrid, Barcelona are still in the hunt for a treble in Flick's first season, with form currently backing them in their title push.

Barcelona are unbeaten in their last 12 LaLiga matches (W10 D2) and are one of three teams in the big five European leagues to remain unbeaten in 2025, along with PSG (W11 D1) and Roma (W10 D4).

They have also won 11 of their last 14 home games against Celta in the Spanish top-flight (D1 L2), including the last three.

Meanwhile, third-placed Atletico Madrid can go level on points with their city rivals when they travel to Las Palmas on Saturday.

Diego Simeone's Atletico have rebounded after a poor run in March to win two LaLiga games on the trot.

Simeone has won 89% of his matches against Las Palmas in LaLiga (G9 - W8 L1); only against Cordoba (100%), Real Valladolid (93%) and Elche (90%) does he have a higher win percentage in the competition (89% also against Osasuna).

Meanwhile, Simeone's son Giuliano has become a key cog in the side and earned his place in the starting lineup with five goals and seven assists this season.

"Honestly, I didn't expect him to perform like this," Diego Simeone said.

"I did think he could help us. That's why I thought about having him as another player in the squad, but he's having a very good season and I hope he can sustain it."