From Wednesday through April 2, Pau Quesada’s Real Madrid must navigate a mountain range of matches against Barcelona that will determine its season. The white team competes in the Champions League quarterfinals and in Liga F against Barcelona with the intention of not being left without objectives with two months of competition still ahead.

The challenge for Real is monumental against the club that has dominated Spanish and European football for the past five years, that has won the previous three clasicos of this campaign with a total of 10 goals to 0 — 4-0 in the league, 2-0 in the Supercup, 0-4 in the Queen’s Cup — and that leads the head-to-head matchup with a staggering 21-1.

The trilogy begins on Wednesday with the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals at the Alfredo di Stefano Stadium. The match will offer a clear diagnosis on whether Madrid has any chance of competing with the current runner-up of the competition.

Another defeat would be very painful and would leave the group wounded, as it hosts Barcelona again in league play four days later with a 10-point deficit before visiting Camp Nou next Thursday for the second leg of the European tie.

Real, in fact, is the only Champions League team in this round that will not open its main stadium for the women’s team. Along with Barcelona, Manchester United (Old Trafford), Bayern (Allianz Arena), Arsenal (Emirates Stadium), Olympique Lyonnais (Groupama Stadium), Chelsea (Stamford Bridge), and Wolfsburg (Volkswagen Arena) will do so.

Despite the defeats against the Barcelona side, Madrid has grown this season with Quesada’s tactical approaches and the new positions in which he has placed several of his most important players.

Following the arrival of the Valencia-born coach in the summer, Eva Navarro has shown the world she is a fantastic right back, Linda Caicedo has become one of the most game-changing footballers on the planet, also in central areas of the pitch, and Caroline Weir often starts from the right wing toward the interior to threaten with her left foot.

Quesada’s improvements, however, have not had an impact on results against Barcelona. Madrid competed evenly in the Supercup final in January but ceded the trophy to Barcelona, and less than two weeks later, collapsed and suffered a thrashing in the final stretch of the Queen’s Cup quarterfinals.

Real conceded an early corner kick goal in both matches that riled its coach, who has since tried to instill in the locker room the idea that to compete against Barcelona or any of the other great European giants, a team must “play a perfect game.”

“Being decisive in both penalty areas is very important, but above all, it’s the mentality over 90 minutes. In those matches, there were moments when the team lacked that definitive step. It’s also part of this generation of players and what we want to build. We want to have that consistency, but we know it takes a long time when you play against teams that are so established.

As a coach, I try to build that mentality,” Quesada explained Wednesday in a press conference when asked. Maria Mendez, who is having a formidable season, emphasized the same idea: “We have to come close to perfection, as the coach said, over the 180 minutes, and we are working toward that.”

Madrid’s urgency contrasts with the confidence with which Barcelona arrives. Barcelona recovered Mapi Leon on Wednesday, but still has Spanish internationals Aitana Bonmati and Laia Aleixandri in the infirmary. Pere Romeu’s team has the league almost wrapped up, already lifted the Supercup in January, and will compete for the Queen’s Cup against Atletico on May 16.

The coach does not want any kind of complacency after seeing how in the previous three clasicos, Quesada’s group — missing Signe Bruun and Tere Abelleira on Wednesday — pressed with a high line and even had chances to score first. “Obviously, we have respect for Madrid and for a competition that excites us so much.

We are going to play the best match possible to be able to reach Camp Nou with a favorable result, knowing that it’s a two-leg tie and it won’t be decided tomorrow [meaning Wednesday],” the Catalan coach said Wednesday.

In just eight days, Real is playing to reach the first European semifinals in its history or to be left stranded in the season against super Barcelona, the team that wants to reach the record of playing in six consecutive Champions League finals.

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