Remember when Real Madrid lifted their record-extending 15th Champions League title at Wembley last year, Kylian Mbappe was set to join and it looked as if the club would sweep all before them for years to come?
That now seems a long time ago after Madrid relinquished their Liga and Champions League titles from last term, lost the final of the Copa del Rey to Barcelona and finished the campaign with coach Carlo Ancelotti leaving for Brazil.
But change is already afoot at the Bernabeu. Dean Huijsen has become their first summer signing from Bournemouth and Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold is set to join, too. Meanwhile, on Sunday, it was finally confirmed that Xabi Alonso, Bayer Leverkusen's outgoing coach and a former Madrid midfielder, will be Ancelotti's replacement.
Here, Real Madrid correspondent Mario Cortegana analyses a season Madridistas want to forget as soon as possible.
The "end of the cycle" under Ancelotti, which is how several sources at different levels within the club -- who, like all those cited in this article, will remain anonymous to protect relationships -- described Madrid's situation to The Athletic after the 4-3 defeat against Barcelona this month, which all but confirmed the destination of the league title.
Ancelotti's second spell at Madrid has ended in a campaign without any major titles, despite Mbappe's headline signing last summer. That Clasico loss at Montjuic meant they lost four matches against Barca in a season for only the second time (after 1982-83).
Just over two weeks earlier, Madrid lost 3-2 against Barca after extra time in a bad-tempered Copa del Rey final. And in April, they were eliminated from the quarter-finals of their favourite competition, the Champions League, 5-1 on aggregate by Arsenal. Even the Supercopa de Espana ended in a 5-2 drubbing against Barca to go with the 4-0 loss against their arch-rivals at the Bernabeu in October -- the first time Barca had put four goals past Madrid in consecutive matches.
Their only two joys have been two minor trophies, the European Super Cup won against Europa League champions Atalanta in August and the Intercontinental Cup -- which as replaced the old version of the FIFA Club World Cup -- which they lifted by beating Mexican side Pachuca in December.
The victory in the second leg of the Champions League play-off against Manchester City at the Bernabeu, where Madrid won 3-1 and it felt as if they could have scored more.
In the competition's new-look knockout stage, Madrid displayed their most dynamic football of the season. Mbappe scored a brilliant hat-trick, finally showing he could fulfil the great protagonist role expected of him.
Vinicius Junior's second effort to make it 4-2 against Borussia Dortmund in the league phase of the Champions League.
Dortmund had gone in at half-time 2-0 up but Ancelotti's team reacted in style, with Vinicius Jr scoring a 30-minute hat-trick to inspire a comeback with a 5-2 win. For this goal, the Brazilian picked up the ball near his own corner flag and drove to the edge of the box, where he fired a low shot past Dortmund 'keeper Gregor Kobel.
The Bernabeu erupted and it seemed as if Vinicius Jr was on a victory march towards the Ballon d'Or, with a week to go until the ceremony in Paris. But nothing was the same after that -- with Madrid and Vinicius Jr boycotting that award when it emerged that Rodri was set to win.
The 3-0 win against Pachuca in Qatar to lift the Intercontinental Cup.
It is not the most prestigious competition but all of Madrid's attacking trio -- Mbappe, Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo -- scored and the victory made Ancelotti the most successful coach in the club's history, surpassing the legendary Miguel Munoz with 15 trophies.
A question that will continue to be asked for some time at Madrid's Valdebebas training ground -- after winning a Champions League-La Liga double last season, nobody was expecting not to win any major titles.
Mbappe was supposed to add stardust to a project that already included Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham. But the Frenchman deserves credit for surpassing Ivan Zamorano's record 37 goals in 1992-93 as a Madrid debutant. Mbappe finished with 42 goals in 55 games in all competitions and as La Liga's top scorer -- or 'Pichichi' -- with 31 goals.
Antonio Rudiger has become a key figure at Madrid after arriving as a free agent from Chelsea in 2022 but is also well-known for his eccentric nature.
Some incidents have landed him in trouble, including the six-game ban he was handed for throwing an object at referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea at the end of last month's Copa del Rey final.
But there have been many amusing moments, such as the slaps he administers to his team-mates during goal celebrations. In September, he was given a taste of his own medicine after scoring the goal to make it 2-1 against Stuttgart, with other players celebrating by hitting him.
"If I score more goals, they can hit me, no problem, I take it," Rudiger told reporters in the Bernabeu mixed zone. "But they will score (more) and then I will come back."
The German said that with one of those faces which has earned him the nickname 'El Loco' -- the crazy one -- in Madrid's dressing room.
The soap opera around Ancelotti's departure. Negotiations with the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) were continuously leaked when Madrid were still in with a chance of winning all three main competitions -- much to the disappointment of many at the club.
What was even stranger was the CBF announcing Ancelotti as Brazil's next coach before Madrid had even publicly confirmed the news involving the most decorated manager in their history. Madrid finally announced his departure 11 days afterwards.
Rudiger was again responsible for this with his celebrations in the immediate aftermath of his penalty to win the Champions League last-16 tie against Atletico Madrid.
After Jan Oblak failed to keep the centre-back's effort out, Rudiger ran around the Metropolitano with his legs raised and his team-mates joined in, imitating his running style with their feet high in the air.
Minutes later, Rudiger took those celebrations too far. Photos appeared to show the centre-back making a throat-slitting gesture towards the stands for which he was fined and given a suspended one-game ban for "violating the basic rules of decent conduct".
Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice in the first leg of the quarter-final.
Those around Madrid often say that the club's saddest day of the season is when they are eliminated from the Champions League. Rice sent them down that path with his two unexpected and sensational free kicks at the Emirates.
Three.
Ancelotti deserves all the praise in the world for his two spells at the club -- it is no coincidence he is leaving with more titles than any other Madrid coach. But this season, he failed to properly manage the resources at his disposal.
The club did not help him, as the squad's defensive setup was poor and was not reinforced when it was clearly necessary in January.
But Ancelotti did not dare to make any uncomfortable decisions, such as benching one of the so-called 'Fantastic Four' (Mbappe, Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo and Bellingham) to give his team more balance.
Nor did he turn to the youth team when senior players were not up to the task and kept getting injured. And he certainly could have given more opportunities to first-team youngsters, particularly Arda Guler and Brazilian striker Endrick.
Signings -- even if the change of coach and Alexander-Arnold and Huijsen's arrivals were all considered to be done deals before the end of the season.
A left-back could arrive and signings in other positions should not be ruled out. Any exits from the current squad could lead to more movement in the market.
It will also be interesting to see how the club tackle other structural changes, such as dealing with the plague of injuries that led to internal tensions between Ancelotti and head of physical preparation Antonio Pintus during the campaign.
Alonso's success at Leverkusen was no coincidence.
A coach so prepared and knowledgeable about Madrid and everything that surrounds the club, with the board backing him through signings Ancelotti was not given, could completely change the face of this team and return it to the top in Spain and Europe.