Where to begin with Real Madrid’s 2025-26 season?For a second year in a row, Madrid finished with no major trophies — the first time that had happened since 2009-10.The initial excitement of Xabi Alonso’s ‘project’ fizzled out before he was sacked in January and replaced by Alvaro Arbeloa, with Jose Mourinho now looking set for a return to the Bernabeu dugout. And, as the season wound to a dispiriting close, there was literal infighting in the dressing room between Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni.Here, The Athletic’s Real Madrid correspondent Guillermo Rai tries to sum up the campaign.Goal of the seasonSome goals do not need to be beautiful — they just have to be spectacular enough for people to remember them.That was the case with Arda Guler’s long-range ‘golazo’ against Elche in a 4-1 La Liga win in March. La Liga’s statistical model gave the Turkey international a 0.1 per cent chance of scoring when he picked up the ball in his own half, 68.6 metres from goal.But Guler noticed goalkeeper Matias Dituro off his line and promptly sent the ball sailing over his head. It confirmed a rare positive for Madrid this season, with the 21-year-old often taking his game to new levels. As the video below shows, it was not the first time he had attempted that kind of long-range effort.