Holders Real Madrid Dumped Out of the Champions League

Real Madrid were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League for the 13th time by Ajax on Tuesday. Los Blancos let a 2-1 away lead slip away and lost 5-3 on aggregate. On the eve of Real's unbelievable 4-1 home defeat, injuries and poor form have plagued the European giants all season, and they now sit 12 points adrift of La Liga leaders FC Barcelona (with the Madrid defeat taken into account).

Ajax Youth Triumph in Madrid

The oddsmakers are not predicting much from Ajax, a team made up largely of youngsters in the early stages of their professional careers. But perhaps what Ajax needed was the youthful exuberance to blow away the so-called favorites, sweep past Real and win a record fourth consecutive European Cup semifinal. Ajax played Barcelona-style possession football, and yet Real were so far back on their heels that it looked and sounded like an improvised high school play in which the only actors are the kids who got in trouble with the principal.

The Loss of Ronaldo & Zidane

All-time leading scorer Cristiano Ronaldo and former coach Zinedine Zidane left Madrid at the start of the season, and the club has yet to find suitable replacements for either man. The team was initially led by caretaker coach and former Real player Julen Lopetegui, but he was sacked after just four and a half months in charge. Santiago Solari was announced as the team's new head coach, but all signs point to him following in Lopetegui's footsteps and becoming the next high-profile Madrid figure to say an embarrassing goodbye. Meanwhile, the team itself is on a three-game losing streak.