It may be hard to believe, but it's been over 15 years since Real Madrid last won back-to-back La Liga titles.
Los Blancos may be unparalleled when it comes to winning the Champions League, but only since the 1980s. Quinta del Buitre They have won five consecutive championships and enjoyed superiority domestically.
Barcelona won the league eight times and the Copa del Rey six times between 2008 and 2019. Madrid only won the league twice in the same period.
But everything is now in place for Madrid to dominate Spanish football for a generation, just as Barcelona did in their glory days. We've analyzed seven reasons why we could be at the top of Madrid's new dynasty.
Kylian Mbappe
It is this transfer story that has led to El Chiringuito's seemingly eternal rise. However, widespread reports suggest a conclusion will be reached soon. Last summer, Mbappé rejected a one-year extension clause in his PSG contract, which meant he was free to leave at the end of the season.
Liverpool, Arsenal and clubs from the Saudi Professional League have all been mentioned, but everyone knows there is only one realistic destination for Mbappé.
Mbappe has already won one World Cup and scored a hat-trick in another final. Although he is only 25, he is already PSG's all-time leading scorer, with over 300 goals for club and country.
He is a year older than Cristiano Ronaldo when he signed for Los Blancos in 2009 and feels it is the biggest signing for the Galácticos since then.
Everything looks set for Mbappé to score a huge number of goals for Madrid. Josel upgrade? Just a bit.
Take our quiz: Who is Real Madrid's top scorer in La Liga since 2000?
Rebuild the midfield
You can imagine Florentino Perez watched Barcelona replace Xavi, Iniesta and Sergio Busquets and vowed never to make the same mistake.
Madrid have been proactive and decisive in looking beyond the midfield that defined the era of Casemiro, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos.
They acquired Casemiro and succeeded in gradually integrating the next generation, who have learned valuable lessons from playing and training alongside Kroos and Modric.
Indeed, rebuilding the midfield was quite expensive. Jude Bellingham, Aurélien Choameny and Eduardo Camavinga cost a combined well over €200 million, but quality doesn't come cheap.
And considering they're 20, 24, and 21 years old, respectively, this looks like an incredibly sound investment. That could mean Madrid's next great midfield is locked down for a decade.
endrik
Believe the hype.
Read: Endrik has had his fill of Jude Bellingham and now we fear what Real Madrid are cooking
Vinicius and Rodrigo
Asked about Mbappe at the weekend, Carlo Ancelotti said: “You keep asking me about players who play for other teams.”
“We already have the best players in the world here. First is Vini Junior, second is Bellingham and third is Rodrygo.”
That's a high praise, but it was understandable after seeing Vinicius single-handedly tear apart title challengers Girona.
Meanwhile, the additions of Mbappé and Endrik will give Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo even more competition for space at the top. The fact that Mbappe and Vinicius have the same priority position is something that Ancelotti, or his successor, will need to resolve.
But Madrid's ridiculously overlapping attacks can also be classified as a good problem, one that they have dealt with perfectly well many times in the past.
And if the pressure is on and there is not enough space to accommodate them all, Madrid could make an absolute fortune by moving one or both of them. The club's strategy of ruthlessly cashing in on star players (Ronaldo, Casemiro, Di Maria, Ozil, Varane) has been beneficial to the club.
basket case barcelona
Madrid's historic rivals found themselves in exactly the same old state. By pulling several economic levers known as palancas, Barcelona regained short-term momentum in 2022 and helped Xavi build the team that comfortably won the La Liga title last season.
But the club's long-term health looks very different, raising questions about whether it's worth it.
You wonder if the Catalan club are in a position to compete financially, given that they have sold 25% of their TV revenue and a significant portion of their other income sources over the next 25 years.
Robert Lewandowski appears to be beyond his best, but his huge earnings will reportedly increase year-on-year.
While star players such as Frenkie de Jong are likely to leave the club, it appears the club cannot afford to bring in a genuine top-class successor to Busquets.
Barcelona have some outstanding young players to develop, including Lamine Yamal, Gabi and Pedri, but they will have to be seriously special to make something out of the mess they are in.
Atlético is aging
Barcelona are not the only rivals for Madrid who are not doing well at the moment.
There have been periods this season when Diego Simeone's side looked great and looked like they were in a position to really compete. However, inconsistent results kept him out of title contention.
Atlético's problem is that most of their key players (Antoine Griezmann, Álvaro Morata, Koke, Cesar Azpilicueta, Axel Witsel, Koke) are all north of or close to 30 points, so they won't be able to score more than this in the coming years. The idea of getting better is difficult (Marcos Llorente, Saul Niguez, Rodrigo de Paul).
Things need to change quickly and it is a big challenge for a team in transition to hope they can compete with the Real Madrid giant.
There are no other challengers
Since the 2011-12 season, no team other than Real Madrid, Atlético and Barcelona has finished in La Liga's top three. If Barca and Atleti part ways, it's hard to imagine any other club picking up the baton and challenging Los Blancos.
Valencia and Sevilla are huge clubs with a lot of potential, but both have faced serious problems off the field, resulting in them fighting for the relegation zone rather than a European spot in recent years.
It looks like it will be a long time before either club gets back into the top four.
Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao have had some impressive results of late, but relying too heavily on their academies will require the arrival of a miraculous, once-in-a-generation player to truly compete with Madrid.
Girona's surprising title challenge this year came out of nowhere, but like Leicester in 2015-16, this one was on the brink and six points behind Madrid meant it was never going to happen. It looks like a thing.
Even with the support of City Football Group, it is certainly impossible to maintain this kind of title-challenging form for more than one season.
There are also many other possibilities at clubs like Real Betis and Villarreal. However, realistically, there is a limit to how far you can go.
Read next: Tic Tac: A detailed breakdown of El Chiringuito's Mbappe to Madrid story
Take the quiz: Can you name all Real Madrid managers since 1998?
