Five times under Florentino Pérez, Real Madrid have ended a season without a trophy. Every single time, someone important has paid for it. And barring something extraordinary in La Liga, 2025-26 is about to become number six.
Arbeloa is in the dugout, promoted from Castilla — which is exactly how López Caro arrived in 2005, the man who was managing the team when Florentino dramatically resigned in February 2006. That didn't end well for anyone. The structural parallels are uncomfortable if you're a Madrid fan.
The pattern is hard to ignore
Florentino has been president since June 2000, across two separate spells, and under him Madrid have won 37 titles — roughly 30% of every trophy in the club's entire history. Seven European Cups. That's the baseline. Which is exactly why a blank season hits differently at the Bernabéu than it would almost anywhere else.
The first trophyless campaign came in 2003-04, when Queiroz's attempt to modernize Del Bosque's system collapsed. Then 2004-05: Camacho lasted three league games, Owen was the headline signing, and the season disintegrated through García Remón and Luxemburgo. The following year brought more of the same — a second consecutive barren season — before Florentino resigned. The galáctico era was over.
When he came back in 2009, the response was Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaká, Benzema, Xabi Alonso — and Pellegrini, who lasted exactly one season. A 4-0 Copa del Rey defeat to third-tier Alcorcón effectively ended him before Christmas. Guardiola's Barcelona were dominant. Mourinho arrived the next summer, and what followed was four European Cups across the next decade. One trophyless season, one complete rebuild, and then an era.
The 2020-21 miss was softer in some ways — a pandemic season, empty stadiums, Atlético held on to win La Liga on the final day — but it still had consequences. Zidane left citing a lack of trust from the club. Sergio Ramos, who'd had a contract dispute drag on all season, followed him out the door. Ancelotti came in and immediately won the league and the Champions League.
So what changes this time?
Last season brought only the European Super Cup and Club World Cup — thin returns for a squad of this quality, and Ancelotti paid with his job. Xabi Alonso was the dream appointment but apparently there was never full conviction behind him. Now it's Arbeloa, and the noises from Valdebebas suggest those in charge know another barren finish is coming and are already planning accordingly.
Luxemburgo is the only coach in the Florentino era to survive a trophyless season — and that was only because he was appointed mid-season, so the first blank year wasn't really his. He then started the next one in charge, lost it too, and was gone by Christmas. That's the closest thing to a precedent Arbeloa has, and it's not encouraging.
Madrid's squad value and wage bill make them perennial Champions League favorites on paper. But a sixth trophyless season under the most successful president in the club's history tends to accelerate decisions that were already being considered. The transfer market in summer 2026 will tell you everything about how seriously they're treating this moment.
Florentino's record shows he doesn't accept empty trophy cabinets twice in a row. He hasn't managed it yet.
