Real Madrid, in heartbreaking fashion, lost 3-2 to Barcelona in extra time of the Copa Del Rey final at La Paluja Stadium in Seville on Saturday night. Real Madrid went behind after a goal from Pedri in the first half, but quickly switched on in the second when they scored two through Kylian Mbappe and Aurelien Tchouameni. They then went behind once again when Jules Kounde scored the winner in the 116th minute after Ferran Torres’ equaliser.

Here are three observations from the match.

Real Madrid showed their fighting spirit vs Barcelona, but that can’t change the outlook of the season

Real Madrid tried. They really did. They finally put in a performance, at least in the second half, that their fans would be proud of. They fought, fell, got back up and fought again. The only silver lining of the match was that, at the very least, Real Madrid had got their fighting spirit back.

That second half was the best they have looked in a big game all season long, and it was down to good substitutions by Carlo Ancelotti, transcendent performances from Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe, Aurelien Tchouameni and Fede Valverde, and just the fighting spirit they have never shown all season.

The fact that Real Madrid have not shown that all season just shows they have always had it in them. Ancelotti just never took that risk of having Guler on the pitch. He never showed the risk of having Rodrygo hooked at half-time, and because of that, whatever Real Madrid did last night cannot change what has happened all season.

Real Madrid have been atrocious for 95% of the season. They were really bad against all of the big teams they faced. Guess what? The season is practically over. Real Madrid showed a lot in the second half, but it was too late. Nothing can change what has happened.

They still need a new manager. They still need to sell a few players. They still need to sign a few. Nothing from last night can change anything, even if they had won. That is what Real Madrid have been doing for the last few years. They would see cracks, and then those cracks would get painted on by brilliant performances from their superstars, and the higher-ups would forget the cracks even existed in the first place. Now, it is too much to hide. Changes are needed.

Arda Güler just has to start more now

It has been two games. The sample size is not huge, but the quality was far ahead of anything we have seen this season from Real Madrid’s midfield. Güler was amazing for Real Madrid in a new role again. He played a bit more advanced as well, but he kept pinging balls into the box from deep, and it showed just how good the kid can be.

He had a brilliant performance against Getafe before this from a similar position. It was great to see some sort of build-up structure and some playmaking from deep from one of Real Madrid’s players. They have missed that profile ever since Toni Kroos left and Luka Modric was sent to the bench because of age.

Güler is really good in that position. He needs to play more there. For those who are worried about his defense, he has improved in that sense as well. He had three tackles and an interception, and he also won eight of his 12 ground duels. He was good. He will obviously improve in every facet of the game as well, but Güler has to start more.

He has to play more. There are five games left in the season, plus the Club World Cup. Real Madrid are probably not going to win the league. They may as well give Güler a proper run-in in that position. It would make so much sense.

Brahim Diaz…

Brahim has had good performances for Real Madrid in the past — even this season, he has been good for Los Blancos — but even in those games, he makes the mistakes that do not really cost him as much, so they go under the radar.

And I still think he is a good player, obviously — but these mistakes are becoming far too many to ignore. Firstly, the whole miscommunication with Modric was just unnecessary. It was partly Modric’s fault for playing a pass like that, but he had to play it to switch the play to the left in that sequence. Brahim, like he has done many times all his career, ran before he could get the ball and was caught wrong-footed, which meant Kounde got the ball and scored.

Also, sometimes, Brahim takes too many touches. There have been so many sequences in the past where he has taken too many touches, tried to dribble past too many players when a simple pass was right there. He did that against Barcelona, too, when he went into a crowd of red and blue shirts without actually knowing what to do, when a free man was on his side.

Brahim needs to work on his decision-making as well. He could have played an open Guler if he had passed the ball quickly in the first half of extra time, but ended up playing it to the left for no apparent reason.

Things like this make it difficult to make sense of it all. Brahim is good, he definitely is, and he has a lot of qualities that he brings to the Real Madrid table. But these performances are tough to wrap my head around.