Real Madrid's Biggest Regret of the 2014/15 Liga Season

At Florentino Perez's press conference, held to announce the sacking of Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti, he was asked what the Italian lacked.

"I don't know," replied the Madrid chief, which just about sums up his two reigns in charge of Los Blancos, chop-and-change periods, exciting but disorganised.

Even if the man in charge of arguably the biggest club in the world couldn't put his finger on why he had sacked the manager, other than for a change of impetus, it doesn't take long to find Madrid's biggest regret of the season.

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It was Ancelotti's lack of rotation which played a big role in the side not being able to obtain any of the three major trophies on offer.

The second-biggest regret is the way in which they were dominated by Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid, only beating them in the eighth game between the sides this season.

It led to their elimination from the Copa del Rey in the last-16 stage of the tournament, with a Fernando Torres-inspired Atletico beating Real 2-0 in the Vicente Calderon before drawing the second leg 2-2 at the Santiago Bernabeu.

This was a source of embarrassment for Perez, Ancelotti and the club itself, given how in the past they had been so dominant over their neighbours.

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But worse was Ancelotti's squad management, which scuppered the team's bid to win La Liga and the Champions League.

The Italian kept a core starting XI for much of the season, only changing his team when injury forced him to.

Per ESPN, back in November, Toni Kroos said that he was exhausted, after winning the World Cup with Germany then heading straight into a demanding Liga schedule. Per ESPN, he said:

"

I cannot yet see the summer. This year I played all the second half of the season [with Bayern], then I played all the World Cup, then played the European Super Cup and Spanish Supercopa with Real Madrid, and now I am not missing any games. I have never played more games in my life. I am starting to get tired. And on top of that, in Spain there is no break in January, as there is in Germany. So you must keep going. I suppose I will get a rest at some point.

"

Kroos was not allowed respite, and that went for everyone else too.

By the end of the season, Madrid were physically dropping away in the second half of matches, and it was plain to see.

In the March Clasico they dominated the mid-section, but after Luis Suarez struck what proved to be the winning goal, in the 56th minute, Madrid had little more to give.

That result effectively cost them the title. And worse was to follow.

In the Champions League semi-final, against Juventus, Madrid were winning 1-0 and looking good value for their lead, which would have seen them reach the final on away goals.

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But as the game progressed, Juventus grew into it more and more, while Madrid faded away. And then Alvaro Morata struck.

The ex-Madrid man pounced in the 57th minute, one minute later than Suarez had scored in the Clasico, and Juventus had the advantage.

In front of their own fans, you still expected Madrid to push for more, but they looked exhausted, weary and ready for the season to end.

There was no explosive Bale run, of the kind he produced in the Copa del Rey final the season before. Cristiano? Anonymous.

The worst thing about the way Madrid capitulated in these games was that even during their 22-game winning streak earlier in the season, people had worried about the lack of rotation and the effect it would have later in the season.

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By contrast, Luis Enrique at Barcelona was making a lot of changes, which proved prudent as his side arrived at the final stretch of the season with plenty of gas in the tank.

Ancelotti's biggest mistake, and the club's largest regret, is that he didn't follow suit, too enthralled by the form his team had shown during their hot streak.

However, he's a sensible man, and you would expect that had he been in charge next season, he would have been more cautious with his players' fitness.

And, with Rafa Benitez set to take over next week, as revealed by vice president Eduardo Fernandez de Blas, per Sky Sports, the question now is: Will sacking Ancelotti prove to be the biggest regret of the 2015/16 Liga season?