Real Madrid are determined to never fall 18 points behind Barcelona ever again LaLiga - Real Madrid Los Blancos have just 72 points

The Champions League could yet make Real Madrid's season a positive one, however the directors at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu are nevertheless frustrated at the team's domestic performance and are vowing to never fall 18 points behind their rivals Barcelona ever again.

At the beginning of the 2017/18 season there was an expectation that Los Blancos would retain their LaLiga title, but early draws with Valencia and Levante got them off to a disappointing start and they've not been able to recover.

The team had just won the UEFA Super Cup and the Supercopa de Espana, but they may have prepared too intensely in pre-season and this might explain the physical drop-off that was seen a few months into the campaign.

Zinedine Zidane has insisted that his team have never played that poorly and that they simply weren't getting the results, yet some directors at the club don't share that view and they want to make sure that performances and results are better next year.

Before that, though, there is the Champions League final and victory against Liverpool would salvage the season, even if an awareness of the domestic disappointment will remain.