A training ground brawl, a managerial merry-go-round and a 50-million-strong petition to sell their star striker – Real Madrid’s season is unravelling at an alarming rate.
Fifty million people have signed a petition calling for Real Madrid to sell Kylian Mbappe. To put that in context, it would fill the Bernabeu approximately 600 times. The number tells its own story about the state of one of football’s most storied clubs.
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The petition has been building for weeks amid growing frustration at Real Madrid’s form with Mbappe in the team. With him in the side recently, they have managed just one win in six matches. Without him, they have been winning almost every game. For a player earning €600,962 per week, that is a damning statistic.
𝟱𝟬 𝗠𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗢𝗡 people have now signed a petition for Real Madrid to sell Kylian Mbappé 🤯 ✍️
Madrid have been winning almost every game without him…but with him in the team recently, they’ve managed just one win in six 📉
To put things into context…50 million people… pic.twitter.com/S8QK1H84li
— OneFootball (@OneFootball) May 8, 2026
The numbers on paper remain extraordinary. In his first season at the Bernabeu, Mbappe scored 31 La Liga goals, won the Pichichi Trophy, the European Golden Shoe and finished as Champions League top scorer. This season he has 41 goals and 3 assists across all competitions, including 15 in the Champions League alone. By any measure, he is one of the finest strikers on the planet.
But goals alone have not been enough to keep the peace inside the dressing room. Sources have reported a significant feeling of discontent behind the scenes, with players divided over coaching approaches and personal dynamics straining the squad throughout the season.
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The managerial instability has not helped. Carlo Ancelotti departed in the summer of 2025 to take charge of the Brazil national team ahead of the World Cup, with Xabi Alonso arriving as his replacement. Alonso lasted just seven months before leaving by mutual consent in January 2026 following a 3-2 defeat to Barcelona in the Supercopa de Espana final. Alvaro Arbeloa, promoted from the club’s reserve team, has been in charge since.
This week’s training ground brawl between Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni, which ended with Valverde requiring hospital treatment, only deepened the sense of a squad fracturing under pressure. Reports also emerged of a separate incident involving Alvaro Carreras and Antonio Rudiger. Both incidents have come days before a Clasico at Camp Nou that Madrid must win to keep their La Liga title hopes alive.
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Spanish media have reported that president Florentino Perez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to restore order. Whether that happens or not, Real Madrid’s season is effectively over. Two consecutive campaigns without a major trophy. A dressing room in open conflict. And 50 million people who have seen enough.
Photo: REUTERS/Marcelo Del Pozo
