Real Madrid's miseries show no sign of stopping as they were held by Girona at home last night, and now Los Blancos remain winless for the third game running.

A game where Los Blancos should have closed the gap against league leaders Barcelona, Alvaro Arbeloa's men looked clueless as Barca are now six points ahead of Real, and the Blaugranas would look to further extend their lead against Espanyol tonight.

The fans at the Bernabeu were left frustrated for the second game running as their team looked mediocre at best against mid-table side Girona.

Arbeloa decided to make seven changes from the team that started the first leg clash against Bayern Munich last week, and both of his starting fullbacks, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alvaro Carreras, were left out of the squad.

After their poor display yesterday, the manager needs to find solutions to the key problems, and he has to do so quickly, as only four days remain for Los Blancos to prepare for the ultimate test in Munich on Wednesday night.

Arbeloa would need to decide on the perfect combination of players against Bayern, and, as was evident last night, the new manager's likely experiment failed miserably against the visitors, with the team showing no signs of synergy with or without the ball.

Although one thing should be as clear as crystal, Los Blancos cannot afford to start Jude Bellingham on the bench.

The Englishman carried the ball with intent and looked to be the hardest working player on the pitch (barring Fede Valverde, of course) since his return against the Bavarians during the first leg of the quarter-final tie.

Madrid has been really sloppy in the last three games across all competitions, and one visible flaw has been their lack of directness, which might have to do with how Arbeloa approached those games.

The bottom-line is, if Los Blancos are to come back from the 2-1 deficit, they would have to be bold against a high flying Bayern side who would definitely not sit back and defend and it is certain that Real would have the openings and in order to exploit them, the Merengues would have to be direct in their approach and finish the chances they get.

One thing that has set Real Madrid apart from all the other big clubs in Europe over the years has been their players' mentality. Los Blancos are known for their last-minute equalizers and winners, which were only possible because the players believed in their ability to win in some of the most high-stakes matches in European football.

Although the current side has lacked both confidence and belief, which has been reflected in the team's collective performance this season, there is no denying that this is one of Los Blancos' most talented squads in recent years.

With world-class players like Bellingham, Vinicius Junior, Kylian Mbappe, and Valverde, no dream should seem distant for the Los Blancos as they look to emulate the feats of their historic turnarounds in the Champions League.

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