When you participate in six competitions of different categories—national, continental, and intercontinental—against all kinds of rivals, win five of them, and in the one you lose, it’s in overtime on your opponent's field in a single match of the Spanish Cup, you can confidently say that you've been the best team in the world in 2024. And you can say it loud and clear. This is a reminder for those who question whether Real Madrid, as champions of the Intercontinental Cup against Pachuca, deserve such recognition. It's an attempt to deny the obvious, to argue for the sake of argument.

Now, let's turn to what's next: the challenge of the septuple, winning it all in 2025. It’s the next logical step, a highly enticing challenge for the club, both in the offices and the dressing room. While they may not admit it publicly—aware of the enormity of the task—there's a clear ambition. Only two teams have achieved a similar feat: Guardiola's Barcelona with their sextuple in 2009 and Flick's Bayern in 2020, winning six out of six titles.

Despite the long road ahead and a challenging start with setbacks and injuries, Real Madrid has already laid the groundwork by winning two out of two titles, albeit the most accessible ones. From now on, the level of difficulty will rise as the strength of the rivals increases. In January, the Super Cup awaits, followed by the Cup in April, the Champions League in May, five months of battle for La Liga, and finally, the Club World Cup in June.

Ancelotti remains confident that by January, the team will be far stronger than the one we've seen struggling since August. The coach expects solutions to emerge—improved collective play, Mbappé edging closer to his peak form, Vinicius continuing to unsettle opponents, and Bellingham solidifying his role as both the footballing and mental leader. But if Real Madrid repeats the sluggishness seen in the first half-hour against Pachuca, the dream of the septuple could come to an early end.

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