A Timeline of Chaos—Breaking Down How Real Madrid’s Season Descended Into Disaster

There are bad seasons and then there are bad seasons.

With confirmation of Barcelona’s La Liga title victory on Sunday evening, Real Madrid were condemned to a second successive season without a major trophy—but the lack of silverware is only one part of the story.

It has been a true annus horribilis for Madrid in 2025–26, with the club spiraling into a state of chaos, amid reports of a toxic locker room that have only become more frequent as the season has gone on.

Any initial hope that the fresh, young Xabi Alonso was the man to wrestle this team back to success was quickly dashed, while Álvaro Arbeloa has been little more than a lame duck manager during his half season in charge.

Instead, the locker room has resembled something closer to Lord of the Flies for much of the campaign, with chasms forming between the roster’s factions.

The high tensions culminated in the infamous altercation involving Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni this month, though that was not an isolated incident and several others have been at the center of their own eyebrow-raising, meme-generating stories.

Barcelona getting their coronation for the first-ever time in a Clásico—while wearing Olivia Rodrigo-branded merch no less—was just the topper.

José Mourinho has been tipped to come in this summer and re-unite/further entrench the divisions in the locker room (delete as appropriate), but before we get to all that, there must be some time for reflection on what has just happened.

How did it come to this?

Here’s a timeline of how this became Real Madrid’s season from hell.

Timeline of Every Major Incident in Real Madrid’s Doomed Season

July 2025—News breaks that new boss Alonso wants to drop Vinicius Junior to the bench for the semifinal of the Club World Cup to face Paris Saint-Germain. Vinicus Jr does not take it well. Alonso starts the Brazilian after an injury to Trent Alexander-Arnold but Madrid are outclassed by a superior PSG and lose 4–0. After being subbed in the second half, Vinicius Jr is caught laughing on the bench.

September 2025—The summer transfer window closes. While Madrid have added Dean Huijsen, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Franco Mastantuono and Álvaro Carreras to their team, eyebrows are raised by the fact there has been no central midfield addition to replace the outgoing Luka Modrić ... or Toni Kroos, who left a year before.

September 2025—After a bright start to the league season, with six consecutive victories, Madrid get a rude awakening away at Atlético Madrid, losing 5–2 to their rivals. It’s the first time since 1950 that Atléti have scored five times in a Madrid derby.

September 2025—Vice captain Federico Valverde tells reporters he “wasn’t born to play right back.” He is left out of the lineup for the Champions League group phase clash against Kairat. While Madrid win the game 5–0, the performance is overshadowed by Valverde who appears to undermine Alonso by refusing to warm up, instead standing with his arms crossed in front of the stands.

October 2025—Vinicius Jr reacts badly to being substituted during the Clásico win at the Bernabeu. He throws his hands up in the air, shouting, “Always me” and “I’m leaving the team, it’s better if I leave, I’m leaving,” before storming down the tunnel. Alonso tells reporters there will be no fine for the player but he doesn’t want it to happen again.

December 2025—Madrid lose 2–0 at home to Celta Vigo, as three Los Blancos players see red. There are reports that Florentino Pérez wants to sack Alonso, but is held back by club CEO José Ángel Sánchez. A home defeat to Manchester City in the Champions League follows.

January 2026—Alonso leaves his role by “mutual consent,” having lost the Spanish Super Cup to Barcelona, who they now also trail by four points in La Liga. The Basque manager leaves after seven months with a win rate of over 70%.

January 2026—New manager Arbeloa slips on the first banana skin, as Madrid exit the Copa del Rey to second-tier Albacete in the round of 16.

March 2026—There are reports of power struggle between Pérez’s advisor Anas Laghrari and CEO Sánchez behind the scenes, leading to further questions about who is really running the show and what direction the club is heading. Chants of “Florentino, resign” can be hear during a dismal 1–0 home defeat Getafe.

March 2026—Alexander-Arnold is benched for the Madrid derby after arriving late to a training session. Dani Carvajal, who plays instead, received a standing ovation in the 3–2 win at the Bernabéu. Carvajal, meanwhile, is not taking his reduced role well. Despite being made club captain over the summer, the 34-year-old has been reduced to a bit-parter, causing personal frustration. The veteran fullback ends up reportedly injuring youth teamer Victor Valdepeñas with a “very nasty tackle” on the training ground.

April 2026—Despite a running joke about “the prophecy,” Real Madrid are knocked out of the Champions League at the quarterfinal stage to Bayern Munich. Eduardo Camavinga’s late (and controversial) sending off is a turning point in the second leg. Several Madrid players hound referee Slavko Vinčić at full time. Arda Güler is shown red, Dani Carvajal shouts, “It’s your f---ing fault” at the official. The 4–3 second leg defeat marks a run of four games without a win in all competitions, leaving the club on the brink of a trophyless year.

April 2026—Raúl Asencio and Dani Ceballos are also seemingly unhappy to play second fiddle in this team, leading to more standoffs with Arbeloa. Both the center back and midfielder are left out of several matchday rosters as a result. Asked about a spicy confrontation with the latter, Arbeloa replies tactfully: “What happens in the Real Madrid dressing room, stays in the Real Madrid dressing room.”

April 2026—Vinicius Jr and Kylian Mbappé are booed and whistled despite both scoring in a 2–1 win over Alavés.

April 2026—Madrid all but concede the title after ex-Barça man Héctor Bellerín scores a 94th-minute equalizer in the draw at Betis. Mbappé asks to come off late on with a muscle issue.

May 2026—For all his goals, Mbappé remains a problem for Madrid. He has failed to click with the club’s other stars (on and off the pitch), while reports claim he got into an angry exchange with a member of Arbeloa’s coaching staff on the training ground. An ill-advised vacation in Italy with his girlfriend compounds the strained relations between player and Madrid fans, leading to an online petition for the French superstar’s exit that garners millions of signatories.

May 2026—Carreras—yet another to fall out with Arbeloa over team selection—seemingly confirms reports that he was slapped by teammate Antonio Rüdiger on the training ground with a statement on Instagram. “Regarding the incident with a teammate, it is an isolated issue of no relevance that is already resolved,” Carreras attempts to explain.

May 2026—The bombshell. The Real Rumble. Valverde vs. Tchoauméni at Valdebebas. The two midfielders get into it on a Wednesday training session, before doubling down the next day with the Uruguayan ultimately taken to hospital with what Madrid’s official statement describes as a “cranioencephalic trauma.” The player himself insists it was but a “small cut on my forehead that required a routine visit to the hospital.” Both players—who deny punches were thrown—are fined, while Arbeloa flails in the press conference, saying: “I won't burn my players at the stake.” Widespread reports claim that the Madrid locker room is in a state of civil war, while there are very few left who support Arbeloa.

May 2026—Barcelona confirm their coronation as La Liga champions in El Clásico with a 2–0 win, condemning Madrid to another season without a major title.

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