(foto: Getty Images)
Real Madrid and Barcelona are out of the Champions League before the semi-finals, raising questions about whether Spain’s long-standing dominance in Europe is finally coming to an end.
For the best part of two decades, the Champions League has felt like a Spanish competition with the rest of Europe invited along. Real Madrid have won it 15 times in total, five of those since 2014. Barcelona have lifted the trophy on five occasions. Between them, they have contested 10 of the last 22 finals. But this season, for the first time in years, neither club will be anywhere near Budapest on 30 May.
Both were knocked out at the quarter-final stage, with Madrid losing 6-4 on aggregate to Bayern Munich, and Barcelona losing 3-2 on aggregate to Atletico Madrid. The semi-finals now feature Arsenal, Bayern Munich, PSG, and Atletico, and you can follow all the build-up through the UK sportsbook LiveScore Bet.
So, is this a shift in the balance of power, or just a bad year for the big two?
Real Madrid: a squad at a crossroads
Real Madrid's exit was brutal in its manner. They were beating Bayern 3-2 in Munich with minutes to go, level on aggregate, when Eduardo Camavinga's decision to pick the ball up and dribble it away from a Bayern free kick earned him a second yellow. Moments later, Luis Diaz struck to give Bayern the lead, and Michael Olise added a fourth in stoppage time. A tie that Madrid had been in control of was gone in four minutes.
It capped a difficult season for the club. They are nine points behind Barcelona in La Liga with seven games left, and now face the prospect of finishing without a trophy for almost two seasons, their last coming in the 2024 UEFA Super Cup. The calls for a rebuild are growing louder, with Jurgen Klopp among the names being linked with the job. The squad is ageing in key areas, and the recruitment to address that has not yet materialised.
Barcelona: same problem, different knockout
Barcelona's exit was no less painful. They played well enough across the tie to deserve a better fate, with Lamine Yamal scoring inside four minutes of the second leg to give them a platform. But the red card for Eric Garcia changed everything, and Atletico held out with 10 men, harrying them until the final whistle.
The club at least have the consolation of being on course for the La Liga title, which would ease some of the frustration. But in Europe, the pattern is becoming familiar. Barcelona have not won the Champions League since 2015, and while they remain a presence in the latter stages most seasons, the days of them dismantling opponents in the knockout rounds feel increasingly distant.
The wider picture
What this season suggests is that the competition has really opened up. PSG ended Liverpool's European campaign with a 4-0 aggregate win that barely required them to break a sweat. Arsenal are unbeaten in 12 Champions League matches, have conceded just 38 goals across 54 games in all competitions, and have reached consecutive semi-finals for the first time in the club's history. Bayern beat Real Madrid with two goals in the final four minutes. These are not upsets built on luck.
The counterargument is that Atletico Madrid are still standing, which keeps Spain in the conversation in a broader sense. Simeone's side knocked out Barcelona and will face Arsenal in the last four. But Atletico have always operated differently from the Bernabeu and Camp Nou model, built on defensive structure and pragmatism rather than the free-spending approach that defined the Madrid and Barcelona eras.
Whether this is a one-season anomaly or the start of something more permanent remains to be seen. But for now, Europe's two most decorated clubs are watching the Champions League semi-finals from home, and the competition looks better for it.