What the hell is going on at Real Madrid?! Chaotic Clasico preparations highlight Blancos' need for a summer overhaul as Florentino Perez counts cost of signing Kylian Mbappe

Looking for touchpoints here is admittedly difficult. But a glance at a timeline is probably the most reasonable of starts. This can really all be traced back to the summer of 2024, when Madrid made one big signing: Kylian Mbappe. It must be pointed out, first, that Mbappe is not the reason that his team-mate was hospitalised, but his arrival did start an era of dysfunction at Madrid.

Prior to the Frenchman's signature, Madrid had been a pretty harmonious place; the vibes were good. Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham were linking up and scoring goals, Rodrygo was playing some good stuff, Carlo Ancelotti had a stern grip on the dressing room, the fans, and the culture around the club. It helped, too, that Toni Kroos and Luka Modric were there for some veteran nous - and Dani Carvajal was enjoying a renaissance in his 30s.

But that summer, things changed. Mbappe arrived, and Kroos left. A true leader of the dressing room was gone, right when an atomic bomb of a superstar strolled right in. And Mbappe was a bad fit from the start. This is a player who has never subscribed to the ideas of 'systems' or 'defending'; Mbappe lives in Mbappe's world, and it's a pretty good one, when you're breaking goal-scoring records set by Cristiano Ronaldo. Yet it didn't really lead to much winning. Madrid crashed out of the Champions League and watched Barcelona reclaim La Liga. By the end of it all, a frustrated Ancelotti lazily asked Vinicius and Mbappe to lead the line in a 4-4-2 that didn't really work.

The lasting vibe of that year, in fact, was a shameful campaign against referees, where Real Madrid TV - not technically affiliated with the club itself - pieced together an expert piece of propaganda explaining why, exactly, the officials were pro-Barca, and anti-Madrid. It all looked rather petulant.

Xabi Alonso, then, was the saviour of sorts. His Bayer Leverkusen were the envy of European football: young, technical, well-balanced, lovely to watch. The Spanish tactician had knocked Bayern Munich off their Bundesliga perch, and he was seemingly on the fast track to greatness.

Madrid hired him early for the Club World Cup - despite Alonso's reported desire to take the job in July. It was a weird summer. Madrid weren't bad. But they weren't great, either. No one could have been really all that surprised when Paris Saint-Germain battered them in the Club World Cup semi final. Los Blancos refused to send any players out for media duties following the fixture, and Alonso made a point of saying that the team out on the pitch wasn't really his.

Yet the side that belonged to Alonso wasn't great either. The former Madrid midfielder asked too much of the team too quickly. He wanted a team of individuals to play like a well-oiled machine. Alonso is a wonderful manager who will someday orchestrate another great side, but he rather over-coached this team, and things got toxic quickly. There was a public fallout with Vinicius and tension with Mbappe. A mixture of injuries, failure to integrate new signings, and, quite frankly, a lack of conviction from Alonso in the media saw the manager fight a losing battle. He left on January 12, one day after losing to Barcelona in the Supercopa de Espana final. At the time, Madrid were four points behind Barca, but had lost to Man City, Liverpool, and, most worryingly, Celta Vigo.

More concerning, though, was the reported chaos in the dressing room. Vinicius' discontent was clear to see. But Alonso was constantly facing questions about vibes, culture, and general malaise. He was trying to be a coach, but was treated like a babysitter - and one that the kids didn't care for.

And so began the Alvaro Arbeloa era. He seemed to get it. Madrid, he argued, are Madrid, and Madrid win things. He spent much of his opening press conference reassuring two things: that he would win, and that he would keep everyone happy. A disgruntled Vinicius just needed a little love, he insisted. And if he just rolled the ball out there, gave the boys a few ideas, and let everything happen organically, the results would come.

That was a lie. Even if Vini seemed happier - a hug after a goal against Monaco was very much for the cameras - the results were bad immediately. He was on the sidelines as Madrid lost to second-tier Albacete in the cup. He picked a line-up full of academy kids, but Madrid really should win these games. And since then, the former Liverpool man has gone about managing Los Blancos out of the title race.

Arbeloa has lost seven games since January, including defeats to Getafe, Osasuna and Mallorca. Further points have been dropped against Girona and Real Betis. There is no shame in losing to a really good Bayern Munich side in the Champions League quarter-finals, but Los Blancos were thoroughly outplayed. It was always a red flag that the club never communicated whether their former defender was a permanent appointment or an interim, and there's no way he'll be in the dugout next season.

Losing is one thing, but the background noise was genuinely alarming. In recent months, there has been a series of isolated incidents - private and public - that paint the picture of a manager failing to control a dressing room, and players who really don't like each other. In April, it was reported that veteran defender Antonio Rudiger was involved in a 'heated argument' with another first-team player. He later apologised and invited his team-mates and their families for lunch.

A week later, Mbappe fell out with a member of Madrid's coaching staff. The unnamed assistant called him offside in a training exercise. Mbappe took exception to the decision, and spoke 'angrily in insulting terms' according to The Athletic. It should be pointed out here that athletes are competitive, and it's not uncommon for flare ups to happen in football. Yet the fact that they were being openly leaked to the media - in an already toxic club - was alarming (and there was no talk of an apology lunch from Mbappe, either).

Mbappe didn't do himself any favours earlier this week. He picked up a knock against Real Betis, and instead of rehabbing at the training ground, he went on holiday with his girlfriend in Italy. Mbappe is an adult who can spend his time as he wishes, but many pointed out that a star player extricating himself isn't necessarily the best move for team spirit.

Arbeloa later distanced himself from the situation: "All planning regarding injured players is supervised and managed by Madrid's medical staff, who are the ones who decide when they need to go to Valdebebas and when they don't," he said.

However, reports suggested that he was unhappy with Mbappe's decision. There were further incidents, too. Carvajal, still recovering from a knock, appeared to mock Trent Alexander-Arnold's lack of defensive work while sitting on the bench; Bellingham, surprisingly a side character in Madrid's soap opera this year, hit out at the referees following a Champions League loss to Bayern; Arda Guler picked up a performative red card, arguing with the officials for no apparent reason; Six players are reportedly not speaking to the manager.

And so we return to the latest flashpoint. This is the bit when things really boiled over. There are always rumours of dressing room factions when things get tough in big clubs; groups supposedly don't get along, cliques form, some players are left out altogether. A lot of that is good social media fodder, but when hospital visits are necessary, it all become very real.

The big question is: why have things been allowed to fester for so long? If Mbappe's arrival and that curious summer of 2024 was so toxic, why have Madrid failed to deal with it? Perhaps the correct answer is also the most obvious one: Madrid do not know how to lose. This has always been a club full of big characters, managed by big managers, and kept in check by smart leaders. The characters are here, but the necessary egos to keep everything in harmony are no longer around. The Madrid ethos, too, is that winning fixes all. The drama is pretty easy to contend with when you can point to a trophy cabinet that's stacking up.

But the fact remains, Madrid are staring two trophy-less seasons right in the face. They cannot quite grasp the reality that the way to not lose might be to find a little more harmony, put egos aside, and focus on an overall mission. Winning stuff is not easy, especially when Barca are good domestically and a handful of teams in the Champions League are levels above.

Of course, this weekend could well bring about the nightmare scenario of Real ceding the league title to the Blaugrana once again if they fail to beat their fierce rivals in their own back yard.

So what now? The word is that Florentino Perez, the divisive president who controls all things, has come up with a genius plan: re-hire Jose Mourinho. It's hard to think of a sillier solution to this problem. What Madrid need is a good vibes guy, someone who can make sure the dressing room gets along, and also enforce a few tactical ideas. What they don't need is a disciplinarian who is past his best, making enemies wherever he goes and with the potential to further divide an already antagonistic group.

And outside of that? Well, this summer feels huge. The issue is, Madrid don't have loads of deadweight. No one in the side feels particularly expendable, and no one is really sellable, either. Valverde is the vice-captain and would likely cost nine figures; Tchouameni is the defensive midfield pivot; Rudiger is reportedly on the verge of signing a one-year contract extension. The only certain outgoings, are Carvajal, David Alaba and Dani Ceballos, none of whom are starters.

So, Los Blancos are at a bit of a crossroads. They could choose to blow it up - they could try to get rid of Vinicius, or flog Valverde. They could trim fat in Eduardo Camavinga or Brahim Diaz. There is an argument to be made for burning everything to the ground, hiring Mourinho, and seeing what happens. It could be the Portuguese, Mbappe, and 10 others. Or maybe it might just have to be the Madrid way: try to win and don't beat each other up in the meantime.