Boston Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs vowed that his team would return to the playoffs next season despite finishing in last place and trading away several players at the deadline.

"We've spoken at great length about this: The team that we currently have, [if] healthy and with the additions we intend to make this summer, I anticipate that we'll have a playoff team and play meaningful hockey at this time of year in 2026," he said.

The Bruins were last in the Atlantic Division (76 points) with their lowest standings points percentage (.463) in 18 seasons. The team fired head coach Jim Montgomery 20 games into the season and traded popular veteran players such as captain Brad Marchand, center Charlie Coyle and defenseman Brandon Carlo at the deadline.

"We fell way short and it's disappointing for us," team president Cam Neely said. "It's disappointing for our fan base. They deserve better. They've supported us for a hundred-plus years. This gives us an opportunity to regroup a little bit, reset and build back better."

GM Don Sweeney laid out a plan for that quick build back to contention. The first target is to add more offense, specifically on the wings.

"The scoring potential of our group needs to be increased and addressed this summer," said Sweeney, whose team was 28th in the NHL in goals per game despite a 43-goal campaign from star David Pastrnak.

Sweeney said he wants the Bruins to get back to their core identity of being a strong defensive team in front of effective goaltending. Both Jeremy Swayman, in the first year of an eight-year, $66 million contract extension, and Joonas Korpisalo were in the negatives for goals saved above expected this season.

"Our goaltenders previously have been really, really good. This year, they weren't as good. That's fact. And our team in front of them didn't defend with the same level of conviction," he said.

Then there's the aspect the Bruins hope turns around for next season: health. Key defensemen Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm both missed significant time last season.

To orchestrate all of this, Sweeney and Neely have to decide on the next head coach of the Bruins. Joe Sacco went 25-30-7 as an interim coach. Sweeney said Sacco has been informed that there will be a coaching search and that he'll be a finalist for the job. The coaching search process is underway for Boston.

Sacco led the Avalanche to a 130-134-40 record from 2009-2014 and was a finalist for coach of the year in his first season. He spent 10 years as a Bruins assistant before being promoted for the rest of the season when Jim Montgomery was fired.

Sweeney is facing some uncertainty himself. He has been the Bruins' general manager since May 2015, but is entering the last year of his contract. Neely said he's debating whether or not to extend Sweeney.

"I'm still contemplating what the best course of action is. I really feel like Don has done a good job here, for the most part," Neely said.

The first 13 games of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs are in the books -- thanks for finally joining the party, Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning -- so each team has had a chance to show the new postseason version of itself.

Which teams and players made the best early impression? Who has room for improvement? How will all of it matter when it comes to the rest of Round 1 and the entire postseason?

ESPN reporters Ryan S. Clark, Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski identified their top takeaways off of the first set of games, covering all eight series.

Read more:
Full schedule
Intel on all 16 teams
Top 50 players
Wyshynski's bracket
Contender flaws

In just two games, the Avs-Stars series once again proves that all contributions are needed

One of them earns just slightly more than $1 million this season while the other has at least three games remaining on his one-year contract worth $775,000. Yet what they've done has been instrumental in why the much-anticipated first-round series between the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars is tied at 1-1.

Logan O'Connor is a point away from being tied for the postseason lead in scoring, while Colin Blackwell's second-ever playoff goal prevented the Avs from having a 2-0 series advantage before heading back to Denver.

It's not that premier talents such as Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Jake Oettinger and Mikko Rantanen won't play a role in the series. But for either team to keep advancing, they're going to need help from the supporting cast. That's something the Avs know all too well, as a lack of supporting cast has hindered them the past two years, whereas the Stars ran into that problem during last year's Western Conference finals.

O'Connor is part of the Avs' fourth line featuring Jack Drury and Parker Kelly that has already accounted for two goals and seven points; the bottom six has scored three of the Avs' eight goals through two games. As for Blackwell, he's a member of the Stars' fourth line with Oskar Back and Sam Steel that had four points, with each forward averaging more than 10 minutes of ice time. The Stars' bottom-six group at large was responsible for two of their three goals in Game 2. -- Clark

Can the Core Four actually dominate a playoff series?

The Maple Leafs' Core Four heard those criticisms about their past playoff performances -- and they've begun to issue a rebuttal. In Game 1 of Toronto's series against Ottawa, Mitch Marner led the way with three points, and all of William Nylander, Auston Matthews and John Tavares added a pair of points. Tavares added a goal and an assist in Game 2, while Marner, Nylander and Matthews all picked up assists.

Marner's efforts were particularly noteworthy given his history of stumbles in the postseason. He had just three points in seven playoff games last season (another first-round exit for Toronto) and, in this ever-important contract year, Marner had further incentive to show he can be at his best when it matters most.

If Marner & Co. are finally primed to be big-time producers in the league's second season (as they so often are for those first 82 tilts), then the Leafs may be on their way to actually fulfilling some long-anticipated postseason potential. Because no matter how strong Toronto's goaltending is or how much improved their defensive play is, the tide has always turned with the Leafs' top strikers.

Where the Four go, Toronto will follow. Right? -- Shilton

The old guy has still got it

Whenever Alex Ovechkin scores goals, especially at home in D.C., I think back to something Tom Wilson said earlier this season during the Capitals captain's successful pursuit of Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record.

"There's just a little extra excitement every time he scores," Wilson said. "Everyone [on our bench] kind of jumps through the roof whenever he finds the back of the net -- which is fitting because he's always the most excited guy on the ice when anybody else scores."

Look at Game 1 against Montreal when Ovechkin scored on the power play to give the Caps a 1-0 lead and the roof came off the place. Look at the celebration both from Ovi and the Caps when he ended the game in overtime -- rather incredibly, the first postseason overtime goal of his storied career.

From the scoreboard to the dressing room to the vibes, he's the pacesetter for this team. It's hard to call his season underappreciated given the fanfare of breaking Gretzky's record, but has there been a more overlooked MVP performance in the Hart Trophy race than Ovechkin's this season?

Here's what MVPs do: They rise to the moment in critical spots. The Canadiens are trying to pull a massive upset in the first round. Their strong third period to tie the game against a too-comfortable Washington team sent the game to overtime. A win in the extra session and all of those ghosts from past playoff humiliations might start haunting the Capitals. Ovechkin knows those ghosts. He has felt the tension that builds in D.C. when things go wrong against a lower seed. And he shut the door. Remember that if the Capitals manage to snuff out this upset bid. -- Wyshynski

Are we currently watching the best version of Mark Scheifele ... ever?

Few teams have faced the kind of questions the Winnipeg Jets have encountered for several years, because that's what happens when a team has made it out of the first round only twice since 2011. The Jets' 2-1 win Monday in Game 2 against the St. Louis Blues means they now have a 2-0 series lead for the first time since the 2021 postseason, which was also the last time they won a playoff series.

Now there's another question: How dominant can Mark Scheifele be this postseason?

Consistency has been at the heart of Scheifele becoming a responsible, two-way center who has authored 10 consecutive seasons of more than 20 goals and 60 points. This season, he finished with a career-high 87 points, while his 39 goals were his second-highest ever.

Through two games against the Blues, Scheifele has either scored or created all but two of the Jets' seven goals. Kyle Connor is the only Jets forward who has logged more 5-on-5 ice time than Scheifele. Even then, it's just a difference of 31 seconds. The Blues have failed to score in 5-on-5 play when Schiefele has been on the ice, and they have mustered only two high-danger scoring chances in that time.

Yet the most jarring aspect of what he's doing? He's just a point shy of matching what he did in last year's playoffs when the Jets were eliminated in five games, while being two points short of tying how many playoff points he has had over the past two years total. -- Clark

It's the Tkachuks' world (we're just living in it)

History was made on Tuesday night: For the first time in the NHL, two Tkachuks competed in Stanley Cup playoff games on the same night -- and scored goals. According to ESPN Research, this was the 83rd time two brothers have scored on the same day of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Prior to the Tkachuks' tallies, the last instance was when Marcus (Wild) and Nick Foligno (Bruins) both scored on April 21, 2023.

Matthew Tkachuk is no stranger to the postseason, having appeared in 72 games during his career with the Calgary Flames and Florida Panthers -- 45 of them over the past three seasons. But Brady Tkachuk had to wait seven seasons until the Ottawa Senators made the cut, and he made his postseason debut in Round 1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Brady Tkachuk scored his first playoff goal in Game 2. He sent a between-the-legs pass in front of the net on the power play that deflected off the skate of Brandon Carlo and into the net. The Senators rallied to send the game to overtime, but Toronto took a 2-0 series lead on a Max Domi goal in the extra session.

"There's no ounce of panic or doubt in this locker room. We're looking forward to getting home," Brady said. "Things happen. You're not always going to get the bounces So be it. It's just going to make it that much sweeter."

Matthew Tkachuk played his first game since being injured in the 4 Nations Face-Off back in February, and he immediately made an impact. It was a negative one at first: Taking a roughing penalty against Nikita Kucherov in the first period that led to Jake Guentzel's game-tying goal. But he more than atoned for that sin with back-to-back power-play goals in the second period to make it 5-1 for Florida. He added an assist on Nate Schmidt's power-play goal in the third.

"What was on display was the hands. He has an incredible set of hands," said Florida coach Paul Maurice, who otherwise felt that Tkachuk "wasn't in the rhythm of the game" after his layoff.

Which means there's room for improvement. Which is scary for the Lightning.

(Also scary: We've yet to see Tkachuck and Brad Marchand on the same line together, combining their powers for the apex of on-ice hockey trolling.)

The NHL playoff format is such that the Tkachuks could face each other in the second round if the Panthers advance past the Lightning and the Senators upset the Maple Leafs. One outcome looks a lot more possible at the moment. But never count out a motivated Tkachuk. -- Wyshynski

Carolina's fresh faces fitting in fine

The Hurricanes may have moved on from one all-star forward in Mikko Rantanen. But the skaters GM Erik Tulsky has brought to the Hurricanes -- and subsequently retained -- are still making their presence felt.

Logan Stankoven was the centerpiece of Carolina's return in trading Rantanen to Dallas, and the rising star pumped in two goals against New Jersey in Game 1. Even before the postseason, Stankoven looked like a perfect fit for the Canes. The 22-year-old plays their style of game -- he's relentless battling for pucks, forechecks with conviction and has playmaking talents to spare. The way Stankoven has cultivated a natural chemistry with Jordan Staal is everything Carolina could have hoped for when he came on board. That Stankoven is giving the Hurricanes depth scoring when that has been an Achilles' heel in playoffs past? It's perfect. And he's not the only one giving Carolina its money's worth.

Tulsky also acquired veteran forward Taylor Hall midseason, and his early playoff performance has been promising. Hall's line with Andrei Svechnikov and Jesperi Kotkaniemi was excellent in Game 1 -- even without breaking onto the score sheet -- generating 12 shots on goal and out-chancing the Devils 20-6. They could be a significant weapon for the Hurricanes as these playoffs roll along.

Most importantly, Carolina doesn't feel so top-heavy now. The Hurricanes have been tripped up before by diminishing offensive contributors in a long postseason run. The way their fresh faces are fitting in, though, puts Carolina on a promising track to greater playoff success. -- Shilton

What version of the Kings will show up in Game 2 against the Oilers?

For all the strides the Los Angeles Kings made in Jim Hiller's first full season, nobody quite knew what to expect once the postseason started.

And in some ways, there are still no guarantees beyond the fact that the Kings now possess a 1-0 series lead following their 6-5 win in Game 1 over the Edmonton Oilers. After building a commanding four-goal lead against the team that has been both the literal and proverbial roadblock the past three postseasons, the Kings were reminded of why no lead of more than two goals is safe whenever they play the Oilers in the playoffs.

Why? Because 12 of the 18 playoff games between the Oilers and Kings over the past three years have been decided by less than two goals. Maybe that's what made Monday's game so jarring yet so familiar.

But to witness the version of the Kings that rallied to win Game 1 with a Phillip Danault goal with 42 seconds remaining? It's something the Kings have done before against the Oilers as they did it in the 2022 and 2023 postseasons... only to then lose the series.

Are the Kings are once again in for a similar fate? Or could they finally have the answers that get them beyond their perennial tormentors and into the second round? -- Clark

Special teams already playing a special role

The Vegas Golden Knights drew fewer penalties than any team in the regular season. They earned the second-fewest power-play opportunities. And yet, Vegas had the second-best power play in the league.

How? Well, just ask the Minnesota Wild.

The Wild took just two penalties in Game 1 against the Golden Knights and were burned on the man advantage both times. That's how Vegas works. They see an opportunity, they take it.

That's something of a theme in this early first-round action, actually. There has been plenty of power-play action. And it has been a healthy factor in determining several outcomes. In fact, through an extremely small sample size, power plays are converting at the highest rate (33.8%) in Stanley Cup playoff history (records available starting in 1977-78).

Toronto scored three goals on the man advantage to take Game 1 of their series. Colorado and Dallas each already have two power-play goals. Same with Los Angeles. St. Louis has three -- although it hasn't helped them to a victory yet over Winnipeg. And interestingly, the Jets have just one power-play goal through two games but are tied for the most at even strength (five).

So how much will special teams continue to fuel some of these matchups? Toronto's coach Craig Berube was quick to say his team shouldn't be expecting to rely on multiple power-play goals per game to get by. Will clubs be able to tighten up defensively? And even if they do, will those singular man-advantage chances keep tilting the ice in one team's favor like it did so completely for Vegas in Game 1?

It's not always a foregone conclusion that regular-season success in any category can carry over to the postseason, but the quick returns in this one show how what worked before can keep carrying the day for some contenders -- Shilton

Kirill Kaprizov vs. everyone

The Wild have scored seven goals in their series against the Vegas Golden Knights. Kirill Kaprizov has had a hand in five of them, including a three-point Game 2 performance that helped the Wild knot things up at 1-1 headed back to Minnesota.

In Game 1, he had the primary assist on both of Matt Boldy's goals, which got Minnesota within one goal with 8:14 left in the third period before Brett Howden's empty-netter iced the 4-2 Vegas win.

In Game 2, Kaprizov hooked up with Boldy again to open the scoring with one of the best saucer passes in recent memory.

"That might have been the best pass I've ever seen. It was unbelievable," Boldy said. "He is a special player."

The Wild built a 3-0 lead after the first period. Kaprizov's goal 3:59 into the second period offered a huge bit of insurance as Vegas rallied. He then iced the game with an empty-netter to complete the two-goal night.

There's a certain poetry in Kaprizov being an early postseason MVP, when one considers how his regular season turned out. The Wild star was limited to 41 games thanks to a lower-body injury that required surgery in January. Please recall the ESPN Awards Watch for that month, which Kaprizov still led while having already missed a few games. Were it not for his injury, it's entirely conceivable that Kirill the Thrill ends up as a Hart Trophy finalist.

Instead, he'll have to settle for being Minnesota's offensive savior in the playoffs, helping to orchestrate a possible upset over the division champion Golden Knights. The Twin Cities should be rocking for Game 3 on Thursday. -- Wyshynski

Lauren Holiday had done it all on the field.

She retired in 2015 as a World Cup winner and two-time Olympic champion with the United States women's national team, and two-time National Women's Soccer League champion.

But after coming out on the other side of a life-threatening brain tumor that was discovered during her first pregnancy and giving birth to a second child four years later, Holiday was ready for something more again.

"I remember telling [her husband] Jrue, 'Hey, I don't know if this is all I want to do,'" Holiday told ESPN.

On Wednesday, she and Jrue, a two-time NBA champion, were announced as the newest investors of the North Carolina Courage through their Holiday Family Trust.

Holiday will be hands-on, serving as an advisor and ambassador for the club, including involvement on the technical side.

"I want to be an impact everywhere that I go," Holiday, who won the inaugural NWSL MVP award in 2013 and has a league community service award named after her, told ESPN.

"So, yes, I'm an investor in North Carolina but I think I have invaluable insight being as I was part of the league when it was in its inaugural season."

Courage majority owner Steve Malik told ESPN that the "aligned values" with Holiday were clear from their first conversation. Malik declined to share a percentage of ownership for the Holidays, but said it was "substantial" and ranked among the top five in the team, which has roughly two dozen investors.

The Holidays' investment is exclusive to the Courage and not the co-owned North Carolina FC men's team.

Holiday remains part of Marc Lasry's Avenue Capital Group, which previously held investment talks with Angel City FC, the Portland Thorns and Seattle Reign before nearly purchasing majority control of the Courage late last year. She has also divested from her involvement in Angel City.

The deal ultimately fell through after reaching the final stages. "While there wasn't any particular reason [the Avenue deal didn't happen] during [doing our] diligence, we just grew in respect for them -- I think likewise during that process," Malik told ESPN about the Avenue Capital Group negotiations.

"At the same time, the league had -- still has -- a dynamic scenario going on with rules around private equity, and we just weren't able to get to a place that was going to satisfy those requirements."

Malik added that the negotiations were happening parallel to expansion talks. The Courage were valued at $108 million at the time, right as a group in Denver without any existing assets was preparing to pay $110 million to enter the league.

Holiday remained interested in the Courage despite the Avenue deal falling through.

Lasry has been an advocate for Holiday, she said. It was when Jrue was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks, the team Lasry used to own, in 2020 that Holiday felt the urge to get involved in the sports investment and leadership space.

She took a course with an executive coaching firm, and they asked her about her goals. Holiday's answer related to a word that she kept coming back to with the Courage as she explored the opportunity: culture.

"They have built a club that's very close-knit," Holiday said." There's a culture there that the girls really like each other. I know they've been through hard times, but I feel like they've come out on the other side in a really beautiful way. That is what really drew me to the club."

Malik said the culture has improved in North Carolina through increased administrative support and staffing investment. The club was rocked by scandal in 2021 when it became the epicenter of the NWSL's reckoning with abuse, amid allegations against then head coach Paul Riley, who led the Courage to two NWSL championships.

"I do have a unique perspective in that I'm the longest tenured owner, board member," Malik said.

"One of our big lessons is that there needs to be multiple people involved with the technical leadership in terms of providing inputs around, for instance, critical HR functions like safety, security, feedback. A place for, and a person for, the team to be able to bring forward any concerns, to make sure that we're an organization that has a process in place to gather that feedback and then improve."

Malik said that North Carolina has added their own player feedback mechanisms on top of league requirements, created a wider player leadership group, and made tangible changes from that feedback like moving players to higher-security housing units.

Holiday said her experience playing in the league in its first three seasons gives her more insight.

Much has improved from her days of playing on high school football fields, when multiple teams (including the only one she played for in the league) folded due to instability, but minimum standards are still moving targets across the league.

Among the immediate tasks for the Courage is the appointment of a new chief soccer officer, who will sit at the top of the technical staff reporting chain. Holiday will interact with that person once they are hired as part of her hands-on approach.

Facilities remain arguably the biggest challenge for the Courage.

WakeMed Soccer Park is the smallest venue in the NWSL -- its capacity is below the league's average attendance -- and Malik said there is an "urgency" to finding "a more ambitious solution."

Holiday will weigh in on that process, too. She jokes that she has come a long way from Googling P&< (profit and loss) statements on her first calls with Lasry years ago.

"For me, this is just the beginning," Holiday said.

"I would be lying to you if I said I didn't have my hopes, and my eyes, set on being more heavily involved in the future and having a voice at a league level.

"But it's not just my voice. I'm super passionate about other women getting involved on the investment side for us to truly have ownership in our league, in the league that we helped build, and the league that we all love and believe in so much."

Former United States men's national team coach Bruce Arena has criticized the appointment of current head coach Mauricio Pochettino, saying that a non-American lacks the necessary understanding of the country's culture.

Argentine coach Pochettino was appointed last August with the task of leading the USMNT into the 2026 World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

He is far from the first non-American coach of the USMNT. German Jurgen Klinsmann led the team between 2011 and 2016 and Serbian Bora Milutinović took charge of the USMNT the previous time it hosted the World Cup, in 1994. Coaches from England, Poland and Greece, among others, have also led the team over the years.

But Arena, now coach of the San Jose Earthquakes in MLS, made it clear he is not a fan of the approach.

"You know if you look at every national team in the world, the coach is usually a domestic coach," Arena said on the "Unfiltered Soccer" podcast with former USMNT stalwarts Landon Donovan and Tim Howard.

"And I think when you have coaches that don't know our culture, our environment, our players, it's hard. I'm sure our coach is a very good coach, but coaching international football is different than club football, it's a completely different job.

"And I think when you're a national team coach, you need to know your environment, you need to know the animals you coach, and we're lacking that. If you're an American coaching the U.S. team, you know the culture, you know the pride and how important the national team is. I think when you bring in somebody from the outside, they don't understand it, especially in our country, because we're so different."

The USMNT is coming off a disappointing two games in the Concacaf Nations League Finals last month, when it lost to Panama in the semifinals before falling to Canada in the third-place playoff.

Over the course of the international window, Pochettino openly questioned the team's mentality and character. He echoed those sentiments in an interview published Tuesday, saying talent alone would not be enough to earn a place on the roster for this summer's Gold Cup.

The focus remains on next summer, when the U.S. will be looking to at least match its best World Cup performance in modern times -- when Arena led it to the quarterfinals in 2002.

And Arena, whose short second spell in 2017 ended in failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, expressed concern over whether the USMNT would be ready to challenge the world's best.

"You ask me if we lacked pride, I'm watching and I'm shocked. I'm shocked that we can't beat Panama and Canada," he added. "It was shocking to me.

"I don't want to be disrespectful. I want them to do great in the World Cup, there's no question about it. But we only have a year left now. Time is running out, and they got to get going."

Wrexham have been branded a "circus" by Charlton Athletic manager Nathan Jones ahead of Saturday's showdown between the promotion-hunting League One sides.

Wrexham, owned by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, are bidding for their third successive promotion in English football and sit two points above Wycombe Wanderers and four above Charlton in the fight for the final automatic promotion spot, which would take them to the Championship.

With just two games remaining, fourth-placed Charlton visit the Stok Racecourse on Saturday for a crucial clash that could both seal Wrexham's promotion -- if Wycombe fail to win -- or open the battle wide open.

Jones, the Welsh boss of Charlton, has upped the ante beforehand.

"All we do is take a game as it comes," Jones said after his side beat Wycombe 4-0 on Monday. "We are not looking at the playoffs, we are not looking at Burton at home on the final game.

"We'll finish, we'll debrief, we'll breathe a little bit and then we'll move forward with Wrexham.

"It's a bumper game, we have to go to the circus and see what we can get."

Both teams head into the game in fine form, with Wrexham unbeaten in their last eight and Charlton their last six -- picking up 16 points from a possible 18 in the process.

Wrexham could be promoted this weekend if they win and Wycombe fail to beat Leyton Orient, while Charlton need a victory as well as help on the final day to have a chance of automatic promotion. Stockport County are a point behind Charlton in fifth with extremely slim hopes of a top-two finish.

Two wins for Wrexham -- against Charlton and Lincoln City -- would assure their place in the Championship, which is one tier below the Premier League.

The teams that finish third, fourth, fifth and six will enter a playoff, with the winner joining champions Birmingham City and the second-place finishers in the league above.

Real Madrid's 2024-25 season: discuss. The team's elimination in the Champions League quarterfinals to Arsenal, 5-1 on aggregate, has unleashed a predictable storm of recrimination, soul-searching and mud-slinging in the Spanish capital.

"Humiliated" Marca's frontpage said, the morning after Madrid's comprehensive 3-0 defeat at the Emirates. "It was just a dream," Diario AS admitted a week later, when Madrid's comeback hopes were thwarted in a deflating 2-1 loss at the Bernabéu.

No one -- not the players for their output and work rate, not coach Carlo Ancelotti for his tactics and game management, nor club president Florentino Pérez for the squad's shortcomings -- has escaped criticism. There have been whistles from the Bernabéu crowd for the team's stars, Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior. The atmosphere for Ancelotti's postmatch news conference after the second leg against Arsenal was funereal. In hushed tones, Ancelotti was asked if he'd still be in charge when the FIFA Club World Cup begins in June; if this was his last Champions League game as a manager; if he'd consider walking away from the job.

That Madrid were only four points off the top of LaLiga -- that was extended to seven points on Tuesday night when Barcelona beat Mallorca 1-0, with Real Madrid then playing at Getafe on Wednesday -- felt like an afterthought. So did the fact that the team were just days away from the opportunity to win another trophy, in Saturday's Copa del Rey final against Barcelona in Seville (stream LIVE at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN+). Madrid being in a position to win a domestic Double, when the team have been so unconvincing, for so much of the season, is an inconvenient truth.

Madrid have lost 11 games in 2024-25. They have been thrashed 4-0 and 5-2 by Barcelona. In Europe, they lost 3-1 to AC Milan at the Bernabéu, and 2-0 to Liverpool at Anfield. In LaLiga, in 2025 alone, they have lost to Espanyol, Real Betis and Valencia. They have spent most of the season missing their two best defenders, Éder Militão and Dani Carvajal. The front four of Mbappé, Vinícius, Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo have often appeared entirely disconnected from the rest of the team. And the only player who's looked like making sense of it all has been Dani Ceballos.

But here they are, in late April, with at least some chance of winning two major trophies -- three, if you count the inaugural Club World Cup. It makes you wonder: how good, or how bad, are this Real Madrid team, really? And is minor or major surgery required to make them Champions League contenders again?

"Compared to last year, we've lacked a bit of collective attitude," Ancelotti said last week, after Madrid's Champions League title defence came to an end. It was a typically understated, but also damning assessment of his team's season, and his own inability to successfully knit his players into a cohesive unit. Because isn't "collective attitude" what a team sport like football is all about?

One of Ancelotti's favourite phrases during Madrid's 2023-24 Double-winning campaign was "collective commitment," constantly praising the side's lack of egos, and the willingness of superstars like Bellingham and Vinícius to put their talents at the service of the team. In 2024-25, that's disappeared. And Ancelotti has admitted as much. "We've lacked a bit of balance in the team ... It's a collective problem," he said in February, and added last month: "We've been clinical up front, and less solid in defence. Those are the characteristics of the team this year."

That same month, before Real squeezed past Atlético Madrid on penalties in the Champions League round of 16, Ancelotti offered a binary assessment of his squad. "There are two types of players," he said. "Those who run, and those who make the difference. You can't be in the middle. Either you run, or you make the difference."

And too often this season, running has been the issue. Against Arsenal, in the first leg in London, Madrid's players covered 101.2 kilometres (62.8 miles), compared to Arsenal's 113.9km. In the second leg, when Madrid -- spurred on by the Bernabéu crowd -- needed to produce another miraculous European remontada (comeback), they covered 108.1km, compared to Arsenal's 117.6km.

"You always give yourself a better chance if you run more," said midfielder Bellingham, who has cut a frustrated figure lately. "Fourteen kilometres is almost the equivalent to [what] one player [covers], so logically, it impacts the game. Last year was similar. We didn't always run the most, but we were in organised positions, knowing where to run, what spaces to cover. It's about finding a balance: running a lot, and knowing where to run."

On any number of metrics, there has been a drop-off between the team's defensive performance between 2023-24 and 2024-25. Madrid conceded 26 goals in 38 LaLiga games last season, or 0.68 goals per game. They have conceded 31 in 32 this campaign -- 0.97 goals per game, so far. It's a difference for which even the addition of Mbappé, with his firepower, hasn't been able to compensate. In 2023-24, Madrid's players made 1,766 ball recoveries over 38 league games, winning the ball back an average of 46.5 times per game. In 2024-25, they've made 1,298 ball recoveries so far, averaging 40.6 recoveries per game.

Bellingham is right: distance covered isn't everything. But it's an eye-catching statistic that Mbappé and Vinícius are the two outfield players, in all of LaLiga, who spend the most time walking, rather than running. Maybe a team can afford to accommodate one difference-making star forward who prefers to conserve their energy out of possession. But can they afford to embrace two? Mbappé, Vinícius and Bellingham have contributed plenty in attack -- the trio have 56 goals and assists in LaLiga between them, although both Vinícius (11 goals, five assists) and Bellingham (eight goals, seven assists) are down on last season's tallies -- but there's been a weakening of the team as a whole.

"Sometimes, maybe we have to play more as a team, and less as individuals," goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said after losing to Arsenal at the Bernabéu. "If [opponents] double-mark Viní or Kylian, it's two-on-one. [A goal] might come off once, but not three, four or five times ... We put a lot of crosses in, but this year we don't have a Joselu to win those duels, to be a natural centre-forward up front."

Madrid played 43 crosses in that game, with Joselu and Rodrygo providing 11 each, and Lucas Vázquez delivering five. As game plans go, it felt rudimentary, and a little desperate.

After a disappointing European exit, the mood around Real Madrid is low and Ancelotti's future is in doubt. But they still have the Copa del Rey final and are battling for the LaLiga title with a team packed full of stars. How much needs to change for them to be back to their best?

Courtois' name-check of Joselu -- a useful squad player, on loan from Espanyol, who single-handedly fired Madrid into last season's Champions League final in extremis, with a three-minute brace against Bayern Munich as a substitute at the Bernabéu -- was a reminder of what this year's squad are missing. Players like Joselu (with 10 league goals) and another departure, club captain Nacho (with 29 league appearances), weren't stars, or even guaranteed starters. But they have been missed, above all as characters and example-setters, as has Carvajal -- still present, but absent since October with a serious knee injury. Other veterans like Luka Modrić, 39, and 33-year-old Vázquez have remained but are showing their present-day limitations.

Madrid's squad-building -- both going into this season, and when given the chance to reassess in January -- has been exposed as undercooked and over-optimistic. The shortage at centre-back, with no replacement for Nacho, has been dealt with by the fortuitous emergence of Raúl Asencio, 22. But Vázquez has not been able to adequately deputise for Carvajal, and the retirement of Toni Kroos left a vacuum in the heart of the team. Kroos was the midfield conductor, effortlessly setting the tempo. Ceballos has done his best to compensate, his Kroos-esque 95% pass completion in LaLiga being the squad's best.

Will crashing out of the Champions League -- with a verdict yet to be delivered in LaLiga and the Copa del Rey -- be enough to spur Madrid into remedying these shortcomings this summer? The first arrival is expected to be a right-back in Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold. A source told ESPN last month that Madrid are now "very optimistic" about signing the 26-year-old, the latest -- after Mbappé, Antonio Rüdiger and David Alaba -- in a series of free-transfer signings of high-profile players in their peak years. It remains to be seen how the England international would co-exist with a fit-again Carvajal, a very different kind of full-back, and not yet over the hill at 33.

ESPN has also reported that Madrid have been looking closely at a move for Bournemouth and Spain centre-back Dean Huijsen, as another step in rejuvenating the defence. There would be competition for the 20-year-old from the Premier League, though, and his 50 million release clause would represent a substantial investment.

Madrid's income is rising, topping 1 billion in 2023-24. It is expected to grow again in 2024-25, with increasing matchday revenue from the Bernabéu, where the refurbishment project is nearly complete. But Madrid are still reluctant to spend big on transfer fees, for anything less than the very best young talent globally.

New recruits will only strengthen the team so far, if a functioning system can't be found into which they can fit. And this is where criticism of Ancelotti -- a manager with unmatched experience, who has delivered two Champions Leagues and two LaLiga titles since returning to the club in 2021 -- is loudest, and truest.

When available, the Italian has insisted on picking all four of Mbappé (29 league appearances), Rodrygo (29), Vinícius and Bellingham (both 26) in the same XI. That hasn't proved easy to square with Ancelotti's preference for an old-school shape when out of possession. "My preferred system is 4-4-2 without the ball," Ancelotti said on Sunday. "Defensively, I think it's the best system."

But defensively is just where this team has struggled to convince, with those four players crammed into the side, and often unwilling to track back. And whether by personal preference, or under pressure from executive level, Ancelotti has been unwilling to drop one of the forwards for an extra body in midfield. Would a new coach be bold enough, or have more leeway, to act differently? Or would they be subject to just the same constraints, and in-house politics?

Ancelotti refused to discuss his future under repeated questioning in a news conference on Saturday, limiting himself to denying any behind-the-scenes rift with Pérez and the club. "There's no clash. We're all in the same boat," he said, pointing to the trophies still at stake. "I don't want to talk about my future today."

But when punting any verdict on the team, and his job, until "the end of the season," Ancelotti wouldn't say whether that meant before, or after, the Club World Cup.

Madrid play their first group game against Al Hilal in Miami on June 18, with the final taking place on July 13. FIFA's new tournament is an additional complication for any planned summer changing of the guard. Under normal circumstances, a coach could be fired at the end of the domestic season in late May, and a replacement appointed with months to bed in and prepare for the new campaign in mid-August.

If the decision has been made to part ways with Ancelotti, it wouldn't make much sense to keep him around for the Club World Cup. But equally, it would be highly unusual for a successor, such as Bayer Leverkusen's Xabi Alonso -- who has long been reported by ESPN to be Madrid's No. 1 choice -- to begin their reign by diving headfirst into a tournament, with what is effectively still another coach's team. An interim, internal appointment for the Club World Cup, such as the reliable former manager Santi Solari, now the club's director of football, or RM Castilla coach Raúl González might prove an attractive compromise.

But the Club World Cup is still two months away. Madrid play a cup final Clásico in three days' time, and six title-deciding league games in the next month, starting with Getafe away, and peaking when they face Barcelona again at Montjuïc on May 11.

If Madrid's meek Champions League exit felt like the beginning of the end, their performance in those seven matches -- especially the pair against Barcelona -- will seal Ancelotti's fate, and dictate how radical a rebuild is required this summer.