Real Madrid has had another normal season by their books, which has seen them already pick up two trophies and drop out of the title race, still with a Champions League Semi-Final to play.
Since the turn of the century, Real Madrid has been a club obsessed with winning, but often with high costs. Since the 2000/2001 season, Real Madrid have only managed to win eight La Liga titles. In that time they were only able to lift the Copa Del Rey on three occasions.
For most teams at the Level of Real Madrid, this trophy output would not nearly be good enough, and it would be fair to assume the club is in turmoil. Madrid’s saving grace is their European record. Before the 2000 season, Real Madrid had won an impressive eigh European titles. In the 23 years that have followed, they have won six of them, five coming in just the last eight years.
Since the arrival of Fiorentino Perez as president, Real Madrid has prioritized the Champions League over all else, which often lets other teams take home the Spanish titles.
The 22/23 campaign has proved once again that ‘Los Blancos’ hold more weight over European competition than they do domestically. Despite coming off the back of a brilliant La Liga campaign that they won, Madrid has struggled significantly this season.
Arch-rivals FC Barcelona have a 14-point lead over Madrid as they sit in third place, also a point behind Atletico Madrid. Poor performances and losses to teams like Girona and Mallorca have done their part in dropping Madrid further down the table.
Despite their lackluster league form, the club from the capital has still been able to have a roughly successful season so far, and could still go on to have an amazing one. Barcelona emerged victorious in three of the five El Clasicos this year, but one of their losses came in the Copa Del Rey Semi-Final.
‘Los Blancos’ faced Osasuna in the final, and a two-goal performance from Rodrygo sealed the cup for Madrid. Also unlike their rivals in the League, Madrid is still competing in Europe. Two matches against Manchester City and a potential final is all that stand in the way of Real Madrid winning another Champions League title, and securing their season as a success.
There have been in recent years, and seemingly will continue to be, opportunities for Madrid to capitalize more on the domestic league, and walk away each season with more trophies.
Barcelona has been in a mess of financial trouble for a number of years now, and that problem doesn’t seem to be going away soon. They have already been forced to offload players like Lionel Messi, which did open the door for Real Madrid to an easier La Liga title.
Atletico Madrid has bounced back well from the start of this season but also remains a club lacking in key aspects at the moment. Diego Simeone’s side is lacking in identity and hasn’t been able to perform in big games for a couple of seasons now.
With their biggest two rivals in challenging positions, while Madrid continues to win the most coveted trophy in club soccer, the window remains open for Real Madrid to enjoy a period of Spanish dominance.
Even though this window exists, that doesn’t mean that Madrid will take full advantage of it. They have already capitalized on the loss of Messi, which helped them win a couple of trophies, but now just two years later they find themselves back in their old habits.
Even though these performances and trophy turnover rates are not what they should or could be, almost no one in Madrid views this trend as a truly bad thing. Former managers and even Perez himself have openly said that the objective is always the Champions League.
As the club moves forward and they look to bring in more top players like Jude Bellingham or Kylian Mbappe, they are doing this to continue winning the Champions League, not to push for a league title.
Whether or not this is the best, or even in some scenarios a good way to run a soccer club, Real Madrid’s 14 Champions League titles speak for themselves.
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