Just when the Real Madrid fans started dreaming of a major upheaval of their season after the sacking of Xabi Alonso at the start of the year, it came crashing down for the Madridistas after their 2-1 loss to 17th-placed Mallorca yesterday.

Meanwhile, league leaders Barcelona found a way to edge 10-man Atletico Madrid as substitute Robert Lewandowski scored an 82nd-minute winner to take the Blaugranas seven points clear of second-placed Los Blancos.

With only eight games left to play in the season, Real's dream of winning La Liga looks all but over, as now they are completely dependent on their rivals to lose some games, where Barca looks to be the clear frontrunners on paper.

Following their latest defeat, Los Merengues would now start preparing for their Champions League quarterfinal tie against Bayern Munich.

The first leg of the tie would take place at the Santiago Bernabeu on the 7th of April, and the second is scheduled for 15th April at the Allianz Arena.

The UCL is one competition in which Los Blancos are known to be the masters, having won the elite European competition a record 15 times, five of which came in the last ten years.

This time around, things look a bit complicated for the Whites, as some of their key players have at times looked subpar on multiple occasions this season.

The recent example is yesterday's game against Mallorca, where top players like Kylian Mbappe, Brahim Diaz, Antonio Rudiger, and Eduardo Camavinga had a game to forget, but things might just be different this week when Los Blancos take on Bayern at the Bernabéu.

One major positive could be the return of Federico Valverde to the side after serving his one-game ban in the league, as he is reportedly 100% fit for action and is surely poised to make the difference on Tuesday night.

Other than the Uruguayan, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham would most likely be included in the starting lineup against the Bavarians, adding to Los Blancos' firepower, and we could also see Thiago Pitarch brought back into the starting eleven to provide more control in the middle of the park.

But the major difference maker, Mbappe, needs to turn up for the occasion as his poor display against Mallorca surely won't define his abilities and hard work, which he has put in throughout this campaign.

Real Madrid would look to turn things around like they always do, as Alvaro Arbeloa himself once mentioned after winning their 11th UCL title, "When everyone thinks we are dead and buried, we go on and win the Champions League. This is what Real Madrid is all about."

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