Real had been Champions League winners for the past three seasons
Wednesday 6 March 2019 13:56, UK
Real Madrid's incredible three-year reign as European champions came to a spectacular end at the hands of Ajax on Tuesday, and their shock exit has not gone down well in the Spanish press.
The Champions League holders had gone into their last-16 clash with Ajax in control of the tie after winning the first leg 2-1 in Amsterdam.
However, Real collapsed in front of their own fans, suffering a humiliating 4-1 reverse on the night to be dumped out of Europe's premier club competition 5-3 on aggregate.
The result compounds a terrible week for Madrid head coach Santiago Solari and his players, who prior to Tuesday's loss to Ajax had suffered back-to-back home defeats to Barcelona in the Copa del Rey and then La Liga.
There are big question marks over Solari's future at the Bernabeu with the Argentine - who only took over in the Spanish capital 113 days ago - having now overseen the club's exits from the Copa del Rey and the Champions League, while Saturday's 1-0 loss to Barca leaves them 12 points behind the champions.
Many of Wednesday's front pages in Spain are calling for the departures of Solari, president Florentino Perez and forward Gareth Bale, who came on as a substitute in the first half, only to limp his way through the conclusion of the game with an ankle injury.
Sport's front-page headline read 'End of an Era' alongside a picture of a Real player burying his head in shame in his shirt, with the Catalan sports daily going on to say: "Madrid suffers a shameful KO in the Bernabeu that throws them out of the Champions League."
The paper, who described Los Blancos' defeat as "embarrassing", also cranked up the pressure on Perez by noting the Real fans' reaction to the defeat: "And the Bernabeu calls: 'Florentino, resign!'"
Meanwhile, Marca's front page reflected on Madrid's first defeat in the knockout rounds of the competition since they lost to Juventus in the 2014/15 semi-finals with the headline: "Here lies a team that made history."
And the paper, which is considered a mouthpiece of the club, went on to speculate about the futures of Perez, Bale and Solari, writing "many of them are in an undeniable end of cycle".
Elsewhere, Mundo Deportivo - another Catalan sports daily - was quick to point out Real's miserable week in its headline: "Nothing at all left to play for," while AS diario simply went with "Tragic week" to sum up events in the Spanish capital.
