Real Madrid’s emphatic Champions League exit at the hands of a youthful Ajax side has been labelled the “end of an era” and the “death of the club” by Spanish media reeling from the holders’ last-16 exit.
Santiago Solari’s future even as caretaker manager at the Bernabeu looks under threat following Tuesday night’s shock 4-1 defeat by Ajax, which eliminated Madrid by a 5-3 aggregate scoreline.
The result ends Madrid’s three-year grip on the Champions League title, and has triggered a fierce backlash against the current side among the Spanish media that ranges from questioning the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo and failure to replace him, to calls for president Florentino Perez to resign.
Here’s a round-up of the best (and worst) takes in the Spanish media on Wednesday morning.
Where better to start than with Marca, the pro-Madrid Spanish daily that has not taken the Champions League exit too well. A powerful front page showed an emptying Bernabeu stadium with the words “Here lies a team that made history: a humiliating end to an unrepeatable cycle.”
That Marca liken the exit to a death is certainly one of the more extreme takes, but it is one supported by the rest of the Spanish nationals – even those who are in favour of Barcelona.
AS went with the simple headline of “Tragic Week”, building on the weekend’s Clasico defeat against Barcelona and leading with an image of the jubilant Ajax side celebrating their famous victory.
Barcelona-based Sport ran a powerful front-page image of an unnamed Real Madrid player with his shirt over his head in despair alongside the headline: “End of an era.”
The front page continued: “Madrid suffers a shameful KO in the Bernabeu that throws them out of the Champions League. And the Bernabeu calls: 'Florentino, resign!”
And Mundo Deportivo presented the dejection of the Madrid players – with Nacho, Sergio Reguilon, Gareth Bale and Thibaut Courtois all reacting to the fourth Ajax goal – above the jubilation of the Eredivisie side celebrating in front of their travelling fans.
Emblazoned across it is the headline ‘Nothing at all’ in a depiction of what Madrid have left to play for this season, having been knocked out of the Copa del Rey, Champions League and falling 12 points behind Barca in the Spanish title race.
