If Real Madrid fail to beat Atletico de Madrid in the Copa del Rey final, they will end the season with the distant Supercopa as the only title won.
Not good enough according to many, especially for the Madrid press, but is it really that poor if we take in account what Los Blancos have achieved this season?
Real have reached the semifinals of the Champions League for the third consecutive year. As Mourinho said, in the previous 21 years Los Merengues had only reached five semifinals.
It is true that from those five semifinals, Real won three titles, and this time the long awaited Decima hasn’t arrived at Bernabeu’s trophy museum. But is that enough to be satisfied? Most of Real fans wouldn’t think so.
Mourinho’s side lost their chances in La Liga very early in the season, and that helped them focus on the Copa del Rey and the Champions League, resting key players in the league matches.
With only those two competitions on their mind, Real threw all their previous effort into the bin during that disastrous match in Dortmund, where they lacked the attitude and the courage that fans expected of them.
The exhibition they gave at the Bernabeu against Borussia can’t hide the fact that the team underperformed at the most crucial game of the season.
Now their only chance to leave the fans with a certain feeling of satisfaction would be to win the Copa, especially since it will be played at Santiago Bernabeu and against city rivals Atletico.
A loss at home against their regional enemies would be very humiliating for both the team and the fans, and would certainly leave everyone with the feeling that the season has been a failure.
If Real win the three remaining matches of La Liga, they will end with 93 points, a number the club has only beaten twice in their history. But nobody will notice that. The last year of Mourinho as manager will probably be of sad memories for the fans if the Copa doesn’t return to the Bernabeu.
