'Nightmare in Wembley': Spanish Media React to Tottenham 3-1 Real Madrid

Media outlets in Spain have pulled no punches in their assessment of Real Madrid's 3-1 defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday, with AS running with the headline "Nightmare in Wembley." 

The newspaper shared Thursday's front page on its Twitter feed:

Inside the paper, Luis Nieto (h/t Ed Malyon of The Independent) wrote: "This was the worst Madrid that [Zinedine] Zidane has managed up to now."

Spurs outplayed Los Blancos—the two-time defending UEFA Champions League winners—at Wembley Stadium with a brace from Dele Alli and a goal from Christian Eriksen sealing the victory.

Cristiano Ronaldo bagged a late consolation for the visitors, but he did not escape Nieto's criticism: "The Portuguese appears to have lost his superpowers and is incapable of supporting [his place in the team] if he doesn't score."

Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images

The forward has struck eight times for Real this season, but only one has come in La Liga, in which they trail Barcelona by eight points.

Marca was similarly critical of Madrid, running with the headline "all the alarms are ringing," per Malyon:

The newspaper's Hugo Cerezo said "Zidane seems clueless," pointing to his decision to replace Isco, Karim Benzema and Luka Modric as he tried to engineer a way back into the match.

He further described the defeat as a "slap in the face" at the hands of "a team from the second-tier, without any continental history." Spurs have won the UEFA Cup twice, though the most recent of those was in 1984 and this is just their third appearance in the Champions League.

Santiago Siguero of the same outlet wrote it was "the darkest night of the Zidane era," and that it "seems like years" since they beat Manchester United and Barcelona in August.

Madrid have already failed to win on four occasions in La Liga, and they suffered another low point last weekend as they slipped up to Girona, losing 2-1.

Sport Witness shared Mundo Deportivo's reaction:

According to Malyon, the newspaper also described Real as being "in freefall," with Real editor Manuel Bruna arguing "what happened in Girona and what happened in London are the palpable proof that Madrid are in crisis."

Sport Witness also provided the three newspapers' player ratings from the contest, with Spurs' superiority clear to see:

Real should still have little problem in reaching the knockout phase of the competition as they're five points clear of Borussia Dortmund, who will be disappointed with back-to-back draws with APOEL.

Los Blancos won the Champions League last season despite finishing second in their group, but it is nevertheless a worrying sign that their domestic struggles have spilled over into the European stage.

Zidane has done remarkably well since his appointment in the Spanish capital, but this is the first difficult period he has encountered, and it will be a significant test of his abilities as a coach to turn things around.

They face Las Palmas next before taking on city rivals Atletico Madrid after the international break. If they're unable to get back to winning ways in those matches, their La Liga campaign could be all but over.