Madrid: When Barcelona retained the Spanish league title on Sunday after beating Valladolid 4-0, it left archrival Real Madrid without any trophies this season.
Madrid's 1-1 draw with Malaga meant it finished the season on 96 points, three behind Barcelona, in a stunning blow to its lofty plans.
Before the season, when Madrid president Florentino Perez spent more than 250 million euros ($310 million) on new players, the club's objective was clear: to break Barcelona's hold on both the domestic Liga and European Champions League titles.
With big-name internationals such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Xabi Alonso and Karim Benzema on board, that objective seemed reasonable.
Europe was a particular priority as Madrid had failed to reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League since 2004. With the tournament's 2010 final to be played in Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, the stage was perfectly set for the club to be crowned European champion for a 10th time.
"Real Madrid has the word Europe in its DNA," said Perez mid-season. "Real Madrid loves the Champions League above all else."
So when the team led by Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini was knocked out of the Champions League by Lyon, once again at the round-of-16 stage following a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu on March 10, the season was already deemed something of a failure.
However, the Lyon debacle was not a complete surprise when Madrid's season is reviewed in its entirety — Pellegrini's men were repeatedly found wanting when facing big teams.
This was the case in an early-season 2-1 league loss at Sevilla. Then Madrid lost 3-2 at home to AC Milan in the Champions League group stage, although it did enough to qualify comfortably for the next round. The draw against Lyon followed a 1-0 defeat to the French team in the first leg of the Round of 16 series. Madrid was also humbled twice by Barcelona, which won 1-0 in the Camp Nou and 2-0 in the Bernabeu.
A couple of highly motivated smaller clubs were also able to stun the new Galacticos. The most notable was Alcorcon, a third-tier minnow that humiliated Madrid 4-0 in a Copa del Rey game in October. Madrid could only win the return leg 1-0 to again crash out of a competition it has not won since 1993.
In that game, many of the problems of Perez's expensive new project were on display: a brittle defense, little creativity and a lack of team spirit.
Of the new stars, Ronaldo suffered an injury lay-off during the fall, Kaka was injury-ridden and underperforming, and Alonso and Benzema were still adjusting. Marca, the Madrid sports daily, even demanded Pellegrini be fired after the defeat.
And yet, the Alcorcon loss also marked a turning point as the quietly-spoken Pellegrini started to exert some authority on the team. Mercurial midfielder Jose Maria "Guti" Gutierrez was temporarily dropped after apparently falling out with the coach and the team looked tougher and more settled — at least in the league.
The goals started to flow as Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain formed a prolific partnership up front. On January 30, the team broke a 19-year jinx when it beat Deportivo La Coruna in its Riazor Stadium as part of a 12-game winning run, during which Madrid scored 41 goals and conceded 12.
While Madrid may have struggled against more demanding teams and had the occasional lapse against lower-ranked opposition this season, its generally impressive form in the league has been based on an ability to streamroller lesser sides with efficient counterattacking play. Although Kaka has been an expensive disappointment, a handful of new heroes have emerged for Madrid's fans.
Of last summer's arrivals, Ronaldo lived up to his star billing with 26 league goals. Alonso has also impressed, along with defenders Alvaro Arbeloa and Raul Albiol. Meanwhile, Higuain, with 27 league goals, and Rafael Van der Vaart, have stepped out of the shadows to add bite to the attack.
As for the quietly-spoken Pellegrini, who enjoyed success in Chile, Argentina, Ecuador and at Spanish club Villarreal before arriving in Madrid last summer, his future has been uncertain since the Champions League quarterfinal exit.
Pellegrini has repeatedly defended his team's performance by citing some impressive statistics, even though its style of play was not as fluent as Barcelona's.
"I'm not saying that we are the best Real Madrid in history, because you have to win titles to show that you are the best, but these figures and data are important," he said.
Regardless of such numbers, given the club's obsessive quest for European silverware, many suspect Pellegrini will be replaced this summer by a more forceful figure.
Inter Milan's Jose Mourinho is top of the list, especially after the Portuguese coach's team prevented Barcelona from reaching next Saturday's Champions League final at the Bernabeu.
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