Real Madrid invincible no more

Carlo Ancelotti said it was inevitable to lose a game, since the team had won every single match they had played since September 13th, and it finally happened against Valencia — a team with which they foster a great rivalry.

While the blow was softened by FC Barcelona’s defeat against Real Sociedad, the truth is that Real Madrid have started 2015 with two defeats in a row, albeit the first one was in a friendly match in Dubai against AC Milan.

After a magnificent 2014, in which the team lifted four trophies and showed a very solid final quarter of performances, the Merengues are not able to get into gear in January and that could be very bad news for La Liga leaders.

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The first month of the year comes action packed with high-intensity matches. After losing to Valencia, Real Madrid will face with Atletico Madrid in a double match up in the Cup, and potentially FC Barcelona twice if they can make it past the Colchoneros and Barça beats Elche.

What could have been a rather relaxing month, before the Champions League started again in February, will turn into a real strainer for the Merengues, who have already started showing signs of exhaustion.

Because of different injuries, mostly in the midfield, Ancelotti has not been able to rotate his starting eleven players enough in the first four months of the season, and so players like James Rodriguez or Toni Kroos, and even Cristiano Ronaldo, seem to be reaching the end of their tank and are screaming for time off — desperately.

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The problem many fans are weary of is that the same disastrous close to the campaign that the team had in the 2004-05 season, where in a matter of weeks, they were disqualified from the Champions League, lost the Copa del Rey final in overtime, and ended up losing the last five games of the season to finish fourth in La Liga after having led the table for a good five months.

Obviously the situation is quite different. The depth of the squad Carlos Queiroz was handling a decade ago was actually much shorter than the one Carlo Ancelotti is currently dealing with, and the issue then was basically that. Other than the starting Galacticos –amongst them Ronaldo, Zidane, Raul, Figo and Beckham–, the Portuguese coach had very young and inexperienced players like Portillo, Ruben, Pavon or Mejia.

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Ancelotti, on the other hand, has a squad full of international players, winners of the Champions League, and with tons of experience like Khedira, Varane, Coentrao or Chicharito.

However, Ancelotti should tread lightly and learn from past mistakes. Real Madrid is bound to have another great year ahead of them, but tiny mistakes could end adding up and keep the team away from the important trophies.

There’s still enough margin for the Whites to course correct, and their situation is more than dreamy by anyone’s standards, but losing their first match after 22 victories in a row should be a warning sign and the coaching staff must take good note of it.

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