European football is reeling after Champions League title holders Real Madrid were demolished by Ajax Amsterdam.
A huge clear out of players is expected, as well as a change of manager after an astounding 4-1 home loss.
Coach Santiago Solari may have a contract until 2021 but no-one expects him to remain beyond the close season after overseeing Tuesday’s catastrophic last-16 second leg defeat which ended the club’s 1,012 day reign as kings of Europe.
It also effectively ended Madrid’s season, after successive defeats to Barcelona which sent them out of the Copa del Rey and put them 12 points adrift of Barcelona in the title race, five more than when Solari succeeded Julen Lopetegui in October.
Jose Mourinho, who won a La Liga title with 100 points but left a legacy of division in his three years at Madrid, is already being touted as the man best suited to the lead the transformation of a squad that has won it all but turned stale.
To add to the misery, Brazilian forward Vinicius Jr suffered ligament damage in his right shin, potentially ruling him out for eight weeks.
And all this on Real Madrid’s birthday, 6 March, potentially making it the worst in the club’s 117-year history.
WATCH: Euronews correspondent Javier Villagarcia says it’s starting to look like the end of the Real era: