Real Madrid crisis: Mourinho, Florentino and a squad in freefall

Mourinho, Florentino and a dressing room on fire: Madrid in freefall

Real Madrid has lost its way. With two games to go before the international break, José Mourinho's team has racked up defeats, embarrassing draws and a dressing room that, according to the accounts exchanged in the conversation, has become a powder keg. The latest home humiliation left a statistic that sums up the season: the white team only outran its opponent in 9.1% of the matches it won in the last cycle, twelve out of one hundred and thirty-two, according to a calculation circulating in the conversation. The rest, pray.

The stands are no longer divided between optimists and pessimists. They are divided between those calling for Florentino Pérez to leave and those who have simply stopped going to the Bernabéu. "FloPer, euthanasia NOW. Mou, nursing home NOW. Vini Mandela, circus NOW," sums up one of the most repeated slogans. It is not a metaphor: it is the mood of a fanbase watching the "last dance" project turn into a costume party where no one knows who is the coach, who is the president and who is the player paid not to play.

Mourinho's return: two theories and neither is good

When Florentino Pérez announced the return of José Mourinho, the move was sold as a show of authority. A hardline coach to bring order to a dressing room of stars. Two months later, the theories circulating in Madridista circles have completely collapsed. The first held that Mourinho came to appease the fans, not to fix the team. The second, more cynical, suggested the Portuguese had promised the president he could make the five untouchables — Mbappé, Vinicius, Bellingham, Valverde and Rodrygo — work without laying a finger on them. Neither holds up.

The problem is not tactical. It is about power. The coach has smelled blood and understood that his contract is the last big payday of his career. "He won't do anything against Flopper's word because right now Mou wants to get paid," says an analysis repeated in different words. The authority of the bench is worthless when the president sides with the players over the coach. Xabi Alonso tried before: he benched Vinicius in Oviedo, dropped Valverde in Almaty when he said he didn't want to play at full-back, made the substitution he deemed right in the Clásico. The Brazilian got angry, Florentino sided with him and that's where the decline began. "You have the president and the players against you when you've done the right thing as a coach... then you give in to blackmail," sums up a fan still waiting for the team to hit rock bottom.

Mbappé, Vinicius and the Ballon d'Or that poisons everything

The dressing room is split. It is not an impression: it is a fact repeated in every fragment of the conversation. There is talk of fights, of cliques, of players mocking each other over individual awards. The latest known episode has a name: Kylian Mbappé believes he will not win the Ballon d'Or and feels the club's support has been insufficient. He expected a gesture from Zidane that has not materialized. His camp sees the award as distant and the player feels abandoned, in contrast to the full backing Vinicius received in 2024, when Madrid boycotted the gala.

The response from part of the fanbase was swift: "Let him bring a 300 million offer and we'll put a bow on it." Others go further and speak of a real rift between the Frenchman and the board, with a possible exit in the summer of 2027 and a destination in the Premier League. It is a rumor, not a confirmation, but the noise is already installed. Meanwhile, Vinicius remains the other pole of the conflict. His name appears in exit speculation, in mockery of his performances and in the accusation that he only plays when he feels like it. "He is the only dispensable one," concludes a message that sums up the weariness of part of the stands.

The war of the referees and the eight-minute video

Off the pitch, Madrid has peine another front. The club's television has aired an eight-minute video on referees' behavior against white players and their treatment compared to Barcelona's. The piece spread like wildfire among fans, who share it with the plea to circulate it before it is deleted. The reaction from the other side was immediate: the blaugrana club responded with an ironic statement joking about printing all the errors Madrid has benefited from, although "we would run out of forests, for sustainability we cannot do it."

The exchange of blows has revived the debate over the Zain case and alleged refereeing favoritism. The data handled in the conversation are damning: 25 years of cards and a positive balance of +516 between the two strongest teams in La Liga, a statistical anomaly that, it is argued, does not occur in any other league in the world or in any era. The question hanging in the air is why some cases go to court and others do not. "The FCB issue was judicialized... and the RM one was not," laments a message calling for an official investigation. The response comes quickly: "What is FCB waiting for to report and judicialize the RM issue?"

The Bernabéu, the concerts and the narrative of power

The season is not played only on the pitch. The Santiago Bernabéu has seen a residents' association halt concerts and Madrid City Council put the brakes on the parking project. For part of the fanbase, this shows that no one is above the courts. For another, it is proof that the club is under attack from all sides. The discussion drifts toward Florentino Pérez's role as manager: "Floren knows that if you report fair play and accounting crap in Spain they laugh at you and you look like a fool," notes a message calling to go "for the big one, the Zain thing."

The debate over the club's management model is perhaps the deepest of all. Some argue that for Florentino, players are financial assets that generate income and have a market price, and that the more valuable assets on the balance sheet, the more the club is worth in a possible sale. "This and no other is the logic behind the signings and renewals of recent years," it is argued. The consequence is a squad built on accounting criteria, not sporting ones, and a coach who cannot touch the untouchables because they are the crown jewels.

What about the signings and the midfield?

The summer transfer window is once again a pavor chapter. It has not been accepted that center-backs are missing and the Konaté signing is considered a failure. The midfield, with Valverde and Tchouameni, is compared to past eras: "It sounds like Mamadu Diarra and Emerson to me," jokes a fan. The general feeling is that the clear-out is three years late, that multi-million contracts have been given for non-sporting reasons and that the coach has no authority to bench anyone. "If they hate each other and end up in a fistfight. They are mercenaries who wear the RM shirt just as they could wear FCB's or City's," sums up an analysis that hurts because of how true it is.

The underlying problem is that the team does not run. The data confirm it: Madrid won 132 matches outrunning the opponent in only 9.1% of them, according to a calculation circulating in the conversation. When it runs more, it does not lose. It is an obvious fact that becomes a drama when the team that runs the least is also the one that earns the most. The question no one answers is whether this is fixed with a coach or with a top-to-bottom clear-out. And meanwhile, the clock keeps ticking toward the international break, with two home games against lesser rivals and a visit to Spotify Camp Nou on the return. If there is a stumble, the gap with Barcelona could be eleven points by the All Saints' Day break.

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Madrid fans have been warning for years. "We're going to have five blank seasons, this is only the third," writes someone who has already done the math. The Ardilla's mistake, the Mbappé signing, Mourinho's arrival, Xabi Alonso's departure: each decision has added layers to a problem that is not solved with a change of coach. The Bernabéu, that stadium that has seen fourteen Champions League titles lifted, now witnesses a spectacle that looks more like a civil war than a football match. And the worst part is not the defeat. The worst part is that no one knows when it ends.