Real Madrid’s Worst Seasons of the 21st Century—Ranked

The 2025–26 campaign is destined to be among the most forgettable.

It was not a good year for Kylian Mbappé and co. | Thomas Coex/AFP/Getty Images

For a club like Real Madrid, going two seasons without a major trophy can feel like two decades. When the highs are so high (and so regular), the lows feel extra strong.

With La Liga all but mathematically confirmed for Barcelona now, Los Blancos are staring down another rare silverware blank.

After not taking to Xabi Alonso’s methods, Álvaro Arbeloa has failed to right the ship at the Bernabéu as Madrid have struggled to find an on-field identity and drive post-Carlo Ancelotti while their rivals have pressed ahead.

A summer of change beckons, as Florentino Pérez contemplates one of the most difficult periods of his presidency.

But how does the current campaign compare to poor years gone by? Here are Real Madrid’s worst seasons since the turn of the century.

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8. 2024–25

Declan Rice’s Arsenal got the better of Madrid in the Champions League. | OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP / Getty Images

Ancelotti’s final campaign of his second spell at the club was a dreary one.

Madrid couldn’t keep get the better of Barcelona on any front, losing both league Clásicos— including a painful 4–0 defeat at home.

In the Copa del Rey, they lost a controversial and bad-tempered final to their great rivals that ended with three Madrid players getting red carded.

The Supercopa in Saudi Arabia also ended in another defeat to Barça.

Meanwhile in the Champions League, Declan Rice’s free-kicks undid Ancelotti’s men at the quarterfinal stage.

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7. 2012–13

José Mourinho’s spell at Madrid fell apart in the third season. | LLUIS GENE/AFP/GettyImages

José Mourinho’s third and final season at the club ended in acrimony (as is so often the way), with the abrasive Portuguese manager picking fights internally and externally as Madrid fell short on all fronts.

Second place in the league wasn’t good enough after the 100-point campaign a year before, while Robert Lewandowski ascended to superstar status with his four-goal performance for Borussia Dortmund against Madrid in the Champions League semifinals.

After losing the Copa del Rey final to Atlético Madrid—during which he was sent off—Mourinho described the season as “the worst of my career.”

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6. 2009–10

Kaká was among the big-money stars who failed to bring success ot Madrid in 2009–10. | Elisa Estrada/Real Madrid/Getty Images

Manuel Pellegrini’s one season in charge of Real Madrid was, in some ways, impressive. The Chilean managed to end the campaign with a whopping 96 points in La Liga, but still come second to Barcelona.

The infamous Alcorconazo in the Copa del Rey and round of 16 defeat to Lyon were ultimately unforgivable, given a summer of investment (including on Kaká and Cristiano Ronaldo) that had preceded the season following Pérez’s re-election as president.

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5. 2025–26

Álvaro Arbeloa hasn’t been able to fix Madrid’s problems. | M Gracia Jimenez/Soccrates/Getty Images

It’s not quite over and still this season is destined to rank highly for all the wrong reasons.

For all his goals, Kylian Mbappé has failed to gel with Madrid’s existing superstars, while out-of-control player power became a hot topic once again after Alonso reportedly described the dressing room as “impossible to coach.”

Arbeloa’s side may have exited the Champions League quarterfinals in controversial circumstances following Eduardo Camavinga’s red card, but the truth is that they are some way off Europe’s best.

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4. 2005–06

Zaragoza’s Diego Milito contributed to a painful season for Madrid. | AVIER SORIANO/AFP/Getty Images

The end of the Galácticos. The 2005–06 campaign showcased everything that had gone wrong with the project, as a bloated, disjointed, seemingly unmotivated roster failed on all fronts, while summer signings like Robinho and Júlio Baptista only added to the on-field issues.

Manager Vanderlei Luxemburgo was dismissed in December, after Ronaldinho had danced through the Bernabéu in a 3–0 Clásico win. Juan Ramón López Caro could only steer Los Blancos to a distant second in the table—just two points ahead of fifth-placed Sevilla.

Diego Milito hit four past Madrid for Zaragoza in the Copa del Rey, while Thierry Henry inspired Arsenal to victory in the Champions League round of 16.

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3. 2018–19

Ajax brought Madrid’s Champions League to an end. | TF-Images/Getty Images

A mess of a season. Real Madrid cycled through three coaches (Julen Lopetegui, Santiago Solari, Zinedine Zidane), as they struggled to come to terms with life post-Cristiano Ronaldo and—initially—Zidane.

After the Champions League three-peat, a 4–1 home loss to Ajax in the round of 16 was particularly hard to stomach.

In the league, Madrid finished third for successive seasons, a massive 19 points off Barcelona—who also beat them in the Copa del Rey semis.

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2. 2008–09

Juande Ramos was brought in as manager midway through a doomed campaign. | David R. Anchuelo/Real Madrid/Getty Images

The last season before Pérez returned as president was a miserable one.

Madrid finished nine points adrift of La Liga winners Barcelona, finishing the domestic season with five straight defeats including an infamous and humiliating 6–2 Clásico reverse at the Bernabéu.

In the Champions League, Juande Ramos’s men were schooled by Rafa Benítez’s Liverpool and went out to Real Unión of all teams in the Copa del Rey.

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1. 2003–04

Real Madrid were shocked by Zaragoza in the Copa del Rey final. | Firo Foto/Getty Images

An unfathomably poor campaign given the current state of play in La Liga, Madrid ended 2004–05 fourth in the table under Carlos Queiroz, who never won over his Galácticos.

The departures of Steve McManaman, Fernando Hierro, Fernando Morientes and (most crucially) Claude Makélélé had a huge impact on the dressing room, while the decision to replace Vicente del Bosque in order to “shake up the team” proved disastrous.

Los Blancos ended the season on just 70 points after losing their final five fixtures—and seven of their last 10—while they were seen off by underdogs Monaco in the Champions League quarterfinals.

A Copa del Rey final defeat after extra time to Real Zaragoza compounded a dismal, trophyless year.

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