With the defeat at Luz, Real Madrid did not enter a new crisis, it simply saw the one that came from last season and from which it never got out of. The improvement that seemed to have arrived with Arbeloa's three victories may have been nothing more than a sleight of hand torn apart by José Mourinho and his friends who exposed all the miseries that undermine the Madrid team, which can well be grateful to Courtois, Mbappé and the goddess fortune for not returning home with a bag full of goals. The French player himself acknowledged that the Eagles' fourth goal was "a shame" for the team and that a 5-1 in favor of Benfica would have been the fair result at half-time, but he is not the only one to say so, there is absolute unanimity, even among Madrid fans, that Benfica's victory was fair and should have been due to a greater difference in the score. With the defeat in Lisbon, Arbeloa lost a good part of the legacy he received from Xabi Alonso who, when he was fired, had the team in the Champions League's top-8 group and with life in the Copa del Rey, both things went down the drain and only in the league did the delay in relation to the guide go from four points to one thanks in large part to the goal that Gonçalo Guedes scored for Real Sociedad and which dictated Barcelona's defeat. Modric was old... It seemed that Arbeloa had found the solution but what we saw in Luz the day before yesterday was more of the same, including the coach's complacency towards the sacred cows who believe themselves to be untouchable. In any case, the problem that Real Madrid is facing does not seem to be due to the coach or at least that he is solely responsible. There are many more factors such as the general attitude of the players, the lack of commitment on the part of a few, and one of the most notable being Vinícius, a magnificent footballer who, as we saw at Luz, was unable to give even a little defensive help to his colleague Carreras, there are also some who are either not in form or do not have enough level to be a starter and there is a lack of a game system, because you really don't know what this team plays for. Behind all this there is a clear planning problem, those who have to make the big decisions will not always have got the squad right and the plague of injuries has not helped either. The shortcomings are, above all, visible in midfield: Casemiro went to United, Kroos retired voluntarily, Modric wanted to continue but they didn't let him because he was old and he had to make way for the new ones. But, except in some way for Arda Guler, none of the successor theorists proved to be up to the Croatian. There is therefore a lack of a game organizer, a boss who knows how to keep time and who prevents the team from appearing, in many phases, to be broken in half. To solve the problem, the coach Xabi Alonso asked to be given the player most similar to Xabi Alonso, Zubimendi said, but the club let him escape to Arsenal and the issue remained unresolved. Similarities with 2006 Real Madrid, who won nothing last season, are at risk of something similar happening this year. The Super Cup and the Cup are already there, in the Champions League you will have to compete play-offtoday it will be known whether they will have to face Benfica again but, even if they pass this stage, they will either improve a lot or they will not get far in the competition, leaving the league in which it will not be easy to stay ahead of Barcelona. For a club whose motto is to win, win and win again, going blank for two years in a row is little short of a catastrophe. This Sunday, Real hosts Rayo Vallecano and it will not be surprising that, once again, the team is welcomed with a loud concert of whistles offered by the disillusioned Bernabéu public who may also return to direct their cries of protest against Florentino Pérez who can handle being called into question very badly, he suffers and it is the worst that can be done to him. The president, who has already caught the attention of footballers due to the Lisbon fiasco, is going through a very difficult time, very similar to the one he experienced in 2006 and which led him to resign, recognizing his guilt in having badly educated the players, a complicated situation that we don't know how it will end.