These 5 giants doomed to a trophyless season | OneFootball

In top-level football, the line between triumph and collapse is razor-thin. As spring delivers its final verdicts, several giants already know their fate: their trophy cabinet will stay shut this summer. The year of nothingness.

Between growing pains and managerial merry-go-rounds, here is a look at five major clubs that will end the season without a single medal. The important thing is to take part...

Real Madrid, a full-scale failure

The king of the Champions League has abdicated. Knocked out on Wednesday night by Bayern in the Champions League quarter-finals, Los Blancos have lost their last hope of silverware.

The 2025-26 season has been one of total upheaval: after Carlo Ancelotti left for the Brazil national team in the summer of 2025, followed by Xabi Alonso’s dismissal last January, it is Álvaro Arbeloa who is finishing the season as the emergency firefighter.

Left trailing in La Liga by an imperious Barça, Real are about to complete their first trophyless season since 2021.

Juventus, the Old Lady left at the station

In Italy, the Igor Tudor project was short-lived, ending as early as last October. Under Luciano Spalletti, appointed to steady the ship, Juventus have shown improvement but were starting from too far back.

Knocked out of the Coppa Italia in the quarter-finals and pushed off the European road by Galatasaray (5-7 on aggregate in the playoffs), Juve are now watching Inter Milan run away with the title. A transitional season that weighs heavily in Piedmont.

Ajax, a crisis of identity

This is probably the most worrying fall. Ajax are going through a deep identity crisis.

Dumped out of the Dutch Cup without glory after a crushing 6-0 defeat to AZ Alkmaar, and well off the pace in the league (with PSV already champions), the Lancers are ending the campaign in the anonymity of the Eredivisie top five.

For the first time in decades, the Amsterdam institution seems to have lost its compass.

Man United, the theatre of missed appointments

Instability continues to reign at Old Trafford. Despite an ambitious summer recruitment drive (Mbeumo, Šeško and Cunha), United parted ways with manager Ruben Amorim as early as January 5.

The interim spell led by club legend Michael Carrick has not been enough to make up the huge gap in the Premier League.

Eliminated early from all domestic cups and with no European campaign to shine in, the Red Devils will have to settle for battling for a Champions League spot.

OM, the Toulouse trauma

"Forever the first": a slogan that seems to have lost some of its shine through recent failures. In Marseille, more than anywhere else, hope is a driving force that can quickly turn into brutal disillusionment.

In this spring of 2026, the verdict is clear: despite a squad built to compete on all fronts and heavy recruitment over the past three years, OM are preparing to go through another trophyless season. One more in a trophy cabinet that is starting to gather serious dust.

If the league title is out of reach, it is the Coupe de France elimination that still sticks in the supporters’ throats. OM once again collapsed in a penalty shootout (3-4) against Toulouse in the quarter-finals.

For the fans, the wait for a major trophy (since 2012) goes on.

Honourable "mentions": Liverpool, Benfica, AC Milan, Tottenham & Borussia Dortmund.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here.