Real Madrid won the Champions League and Copa del Rey in the 2013-14 campaign, but finished third in La Liga and would have been keen to make a stronger challenge for the Spanish title this season.
For long spells, Los Blancos did appear that they would regain the title, but Carlo Ancelotti's side ultimately fell two points short of winners Barcelona, who have also reached the finals of the Champions League and Copa del Rey.
As a result, there is expected to be a shake-up at the Bernabeu this summer, with managerial and player changes rife. With that in mind, Sports Mole has taken a look at Real Madrid's 2014-15 season.
August
As winners of the Copa del Rey, Real Madrid faced La Liga champions Atletico Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup towards the end of August. The two sides played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg at the Bernabeu, but it was Atletico that claimed the trophy with a 1-0 win at the Vicente Calderon.
Real Madrid opened their La Liga challenge with a 2-0 win at home to Cordoba, but incredibly threw away a two-goal lead at Real Sociedad in their next match to lose 4-2 at the Anoeta.
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In the final week of the transfer window, Los Blancos parted with Angel di Maria and Xabi Alonso – two players that played strong roles in their Champions League success. It wasn't the start that Ancelotti would have wanted, while star man Cristiano Ronaldo was again being linked with a return to Manchester United.
There were incomings, however, with Toni Kroos, James Rodriguez, Keylor Navas and Javier Hernandez (loan) joining what was already a very talented squad.
September
If August was disappointing, then the start to September was even worse. Real Madrid were looking to respond from the Sociedad defeat when they welcomed Atletico Madrid to the Bernabeu on September 13, but it was the Spanish champions that triumphed 2-1. As a result, Real Madrid had only taken three points from their first three league games of the season.
They began their Champions League defence in impressive fashion, however, with a 5-1 win at home to Basel making Ancelotti's side the early Group B leaders. That success was followed by an incredible 8-2 win at Deportivo La Coruna and a 5-1 success at home to Elche.
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Los Blancos racked up their fourth straight win at the end of the month with a 2-0 victory at Villarreal. James and Kroos were both settling in at the Bernabeu, while the goals for Ronaldo were flowing following a difficult start to the season.
October
October started in the best possible fashion as the capital side won 2-1 at Ludogorets in the Champions League to move onto six points, before making it seven wins in a row with back-to-back 5-0 victories over Athletic Bilbao and Levante in the league. Ronaldo netted five times in those two matches - moving the Portuguese onto 15 league goals for the season, which was a record after eight rounds of games.
Ancelotti's team were starting to get into the groove, but still trailed Barcelona at the top of the table. Their third win in the Champions League occurred at Anfield on October 22, with three unanswered goals securing all the points against Liverpool.
Next up was Barcelona three days later and Los Blancos' winning run continued as they beat the Catalan side 3-1 at the Bernabeu. It was also another record-breaking match for Ronaldo - who made it 15 goals in his last seven league games, breaking the Real Madrid record set by Ferenc Puskas, who managed 13 goals in seven games in two separate seasons.
Real Madrid's defence of the Copa del Rey also started at the end of October and Ancelotti's side made short work of Cornella in the first leg of their last-32 clash – recording a 4-1 victory.
November
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Real Madrid again scored four times in their opening match of November - this time against Getafe to continue their winning run. A 1-0 victory over Liverpool in the Champions League ensured their qualification from Group A, before they recorded a thumping 5-1 victory over Rayo Vallecano in the league.
Three more wins were to follow at the end of the month. On November 22, the capital outfit won 4-0 at Eibar, before securing top spot in Group A with a 1-0 win over Basel in the Champions League. Malaga were in a good run of form when Real Madrid made the trip to La Rosaleda at the end of the month, but it proved to be another three points for Ancelotti's side.
Since losing to Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid had now won their last 16 games in all competitions and were closing in on the Spanish record of 18 successive wins, which had been set by Frank Rijkaard's Barcelona team in the 2005-06 season.
December
Jese Rodriguez made his long-awaited comeback in the opening match of December, as Real Madrid booked their spot in the last-16 stage of the Copa del Rey with a 5-0 win at home to Cornella. Three days later, Ronaldo netted a record-breaking 23rd La Liga hat-trick against Celta Vigo – taking the Portuguese's tally to 200 league goals in 178 league games.
Ronaldo then surpassed Raul's Champions League goals record by scoring his 72nd in the 4-0 win over Ludogorets on November 9 - making it six wins from six Group A matches and allowing Los Blancos to secure a record-breaking 19th successive win. As a result, the Spanish side were paired with Schalke 04 in the knockout stage of the Champions League.
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Almeria were the next team to suffer at the hands of Real Madrid, who were 4-1 winners in their final league match of the year. They were far from finished, however, with the Club World Cup up for grabs.
Real Madrid made light work of Cruz Azul in the semi-finals to book their spot in the conclusion of the tournament. San Lorenzo waited in the final, but the Spanish side were too strong on the night, with a 2-0 win securing the trophy. That match extended their winning streak to 22 matches and ensured that they finished the year with four trophies.
January
That sensational winning run came to an end at the start of January, however, when Valencia recorded a 2-1 victory at the Mestalla to bring Los Blancos down to earth. A two-legged clash against Atletico Madrid in the last-16 stage of the Copa del Rey quickly followed and Real were beaten 2-0 at the Vicente Calderon to make it back-to-back defeats.
Los Blancos did return to winning ways on January 10, however, with a 3-0 victory over Espanyol in the league ensuring that Ancelotti's team remained four points clear at the top of the table.
There was to be disappointment in the Copa del Rey, however, with their hopes of retaining the trophy ended when they could only draw 2-2 at home to Atletico in the second leg of their last-16 clash.
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Real Madrid had seemingly overcome their wobble in the league, however, with wins over Getafe, Cordoba and Real Sociedad at the end of the month extending their lead at the summit to seven points. Ronaldo, Benzema, Rodriguez and Bale were all among the goals for the capital outfit and with Barcelona wobbling, Real Madrid looked the favourites for the La Liga crown.
There was also big transfer news in the month of January, with Real Madrid bringing in Lucas Silva from Cruzeiro, in addition to winning the race to sign 16-year-old Norwegian wonderkid Martin Odegaard.
February
February started with a 2-1 victory over Sevilla in the league as Ancelotti's side remained comfortably top of the table, but they were beaten 4-0 at Atletico Madrid on February 7 in what was their poorest performance of the season thus far.
Los Blancos returned to winning ways against Deportivo La Coruna, however, before beating Schalke 04 2-0 in the first leg of their last-16 Champions League clash in Germany.
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A third straight victory, this time in the league against Elche, arrived on February 22 as the gap over Barcelona stayed at four points. Los Blancos were also comfortably on route to reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League once again.
March
Los Blancos did drop home league points at the start of March, however, with a 1-1 draw against Villarreal allowing Barcelona to gain some ground. A 1-0 defeat followed at Athletic Bilbao and for the first time, there were question marks over the team's performances.
It did not get much better in their next game as they lost 4-3 at home to Schalke 04 in the second leg of their last-16 Champions League clash, but the Spanish side advanced to the quarter-finals by the skin of their teeth.
Bale scored twice in a 2-0 victory over Levante on March 15 as Real Madrid returned to winning ways in the league, but their clash with Barcelona at the Camp Nou was on the horizon.
Barca prevailed 2-1 on March 22 to move four points clear at the summit during a period where the Real Madrid faithful were becoming increasingly critical of their team. A spot in the Champions League quarter-finals was secure, but they had relinquished first position in the league.
April
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Real Madrid returned to winning ways in incredible fashion at the start of the month, with Ronaldo scoring five times in a 9-1 victory over Granada. At that stage, Ancelotti had set his team a target of 10 straight league victories to have a chance of wrestling the league title from Barcelona, who were starting to hit top form.
Back-to-back victories over Rayo Vallecano and Eibar ensured that Los Blancos were keeping pace with Barcelona ahead of their Champions League quarter-final against Atletico Madrid - a team that they had not beaten this season. The first leg was extremely nervy at the Vicente Calderon, as expected, and finished in a goalless draw.
A 3-1 victory over Malaga in the league ensured that Real Madrid were still pushing Barcelona, but that success came at a price, with Benzema and Luka Modric both picking up injuries.
The second leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Atletico occurred on April 24 and it looked for all the world as if extra time was going to occur following another tight match. Hernandez had other ideas, however, with the Mexican scoring in the 88th minute to send the reigning champions into the semi-finals once again.
There was no respite for Ancelotti's team, however, with league matters very pressing. Celta Vigo provided tough opposition on April 26, but Real Madrid recorded a 4-2 victory to again cut the gap to two points. There was a distinct pattern emerging - Barcelona opening up a five-point lead, before the gap was cut to two points. The month ended with a 3-0 win over Almeria, which was a sixth straight league success.
May
On May 2, Real Madrid became the first team since February 2014 to beat Sevilla in Seville in the league, with Ronaldo scoring a stunning hat-trick to secure a 3-2 victory ahead of the first leg of their Champions League semi-final against Juventus.
The first leg in Italy did not exactly go to plan, but a 2-1 defeat at least brought an away goal and left the tie very much open ahead of the return in the Spanish capital.
There was no respite as Valencia travelled to the Bernabeu in the league on May 9, and a 2-2 draw left Real Madrid trailing Barcelona by four points with just two games remaining.
What was a disappointing week got a lot worse on May 13 when Juventus secured a 1-1 draw in Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final to progress into the final. Alvaro Morata, who left Real Madrid for Juve last summer, scored in both legs, while question marks over the performances of Bale continued to dominate the attention.
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The final two weeks of the La Liga season were thrown into question due to a strike relating to TV rights, but that was lifted on May 14, with Real Madrid needing to win at Espanyol in their penultimate league game to stand any chance of staying in the title race.
Ronaldo hit his seventh hat-trick of the season in a 4-1 success at Espanyol, but as it transpired, it was not enough for Los Blancos to remain in the race, with Barcelona securing the title at Atletico Madrid.
Real Madrid did end the season in style, however, with Ronaldo scoring yet another hat-trick in a 7-3 win over Getafe. As a result, Los Blancos finished two points behind the winners Barcelona, while Ronaldo registered his best-ever total for a single season - 61 goals.
Matt Law
