What’s going wrong at Real Madrid right now – and how much does it matter?

Real Madrid’s 36-match unbeaten run was ended by Lille as the French side claimed a 1-0 victory in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

The last time Carlo Ancelotti’s side lost a match was on January 18 — a 4-2 defeat after extra time at Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey round of 16.

At Lille, Canada striker Jonathan David’s first-half penalty was enough to settle the points, despite the efforts of Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe, who made a quick recovery from injury to feature from the bench in the second half.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side were not at their best. The Italian manager was quick to admit it in his post-match press conference.

“I’m very sincere, the criticism for today’s game is fair, correct, we have to accept it,” he said. “We didn’t show a good version (of ourselves).”

The season is still in its early stages, but this wasn’t the first time Ancelotti has spoken like this in 2024-25, and at Madrid there is always a particular level of scrutiny over every poor result.

So, what is going wrong at Madrid right now — and how much does it matter?

Madrid didn’t make the best of starts to the new La Liga campaign. Their opening match was a 1-1 draw at Mallorca, where Ancelotti found himself reflecting on “problems and solutions” earlier than anyone expected — on a night that was supposed to be about Mbappe’s debut in Spain.

Concerns and questions continued over the effectiveness of the team’s attack — whether Mbappe, Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo could properly combine to the best of their abilities — as the team drew another away tie at Las Palmas on the third matchday, which meant they started their title defence with five points from a possible nine.

Those worries were eased soon after — especially as Mbappe began to find the net (he is the team’s top scorer with seven goals from 10 games). But there have been other unsettling signs over the team’s stability (and strength in depth) in defence. Last weekend’s 3-2 win over Alaves was Madrid’s fifth in a row in all competitions since the draw at Las Palmas, but coaching staff sources (speaking anonymously to protect their position, like all those cited here) still made a worrying assessment.

“The team sinned in their arrogance,” they said, having seen Madrid almost throw away a 3-0 lead with 10 minutes on the clock.

Mbappe came off in that match with a muscle injury. This led to a formation change for the next game, Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Atletico in La Liga — where Ancelotti moved from a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2 in search of more control and a better balance between attack and defence.

They tried the same strategy against Lille, but in neither meeting did we see a marked improvement. Coaching staff sources say adjustments are continuous during a season, but acknowledge they have still not been able to reach their “best level”.

“We struggled to generate and create,” was Ancelotti’s verdict. “Possession was slow and we had few ideas. It’s obvious because we have strikers who need to play more vertically. If you struggle to handle the ball and arrive slowly, it’s a problem.”

Following the match in Lille, club sources said Eder Militao will undergo tests after being taken off in the 57th minute because of discomfort in his left thigh. If the Brazilian centre-back is set for a spell out, he will join Thibaut Courtois, David Alaba, Dani Ceballos and Brahim Diaz on the injury list.

Since the start of the season, Madrid have had many physical problems that have also prevented them from performing at their best. Several of those who featured on Wednesday had just returned from injury — including Mbappe and Eduardo Camavinga. Both looked short of fitness as the minutes ticked away and that limited Madrid.

“Everyone knows what the calendar is like,” goalkeeper Andriy Lunin said in the mixed zone on Wednesday night. “People who are responsible, let them think about it. It’s not easy. Two days ago we had a very physically and emotionally demanding game.”

Ancelotti didn’t want to look for “excuses” he said, posing the question: “How many times have we played on Sunday and on Wednesday we fought?”

Coaching staff sources recognise many players are struggling with injuries, but just like last season they are looking at how they can improve the recovery process and put out the best XI with the planning limitations they face.

Rudiger and Vallejo walk off the pitch after the 1-0 defeat (Sammer Al-Doumy/AFP via Getty Images)

Speaking of limitations, for their next match, on Saturday in La Liga at home to Villarreal, Madrid might once again have only two recognised centre-backs available in Antonio Rudiger and Jesus Vallejo, who was far from convincing when he came on for a first appearance of the season against Alaves.

A more likely partner for Rudiger will be Aurelien Tchouameni, if indeed Militao is deemed not fit to play. Madrid clearly do not have as much strength in depth in the position, but those in charge of squad planning decided against further reinforcement this summer after the failed attempt to sign Leny Yoro, despite the fact that the season could stretch to 70 games.

Coaching staff sources say Alaba could return to the group in December, but his recovery will be treated carefully — by that time he will have been out of action for a whole 12 months. Those same sources say even though Militao is fully recovered from his cruciate ligament injury (Alaba suffered the same), they still believe he needs time before reaching his very best levels again.

For all these reasons, the team is still missing another centre-back after the departure of Nacho, and this is something that practically every matchday shows. Another huge miss is that of Toni Kroos. Despite the quality of Camavinga, Tchouameni, Federico Valverde and Bellingham in midfield, the German was always going to be irreplaceable.

But there is no major concern or panic around the club. In France on Wednesday night, one source close to the Madrid board said in reply to The Athletic: “We are just starting. We’re going to see how things go.”

Anything else would be highly unusual, even for a club like Real Madrid. Back to those “problems and solutions” again.

(Top photo: Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)