Dani Carvajal After Real Madrid UCL Loss to Ajax: 'We've Had a S--t Season'

Dani Carvajal did not pull any punches after Real Madrid's 4-1 humiliation at the hands of Ajax in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday at the Santiago Bernabeu as he said afterwards Los Blancos have endured "a s--t season" in 2018-19.

Real's dreams of winning a fourth successive European title are now over after their last-16 elimination, and recent back-to-back defeats to Barcelona had already seen them knocked out the Copa del Rey and effectively ruled out of the title race in La Liga.

Carvajal said he was at a loss to explain the Madrid giants' recent slump, per Movistar Plus (h/t Goal):

"I think I've never had this feeling of discomfort, I do not know how to explain it. It's never easy to come from two defeats against Barcelona, today we came with a clear mind of wanting to win, two errors put us 0-2, the start of the second half is good but 0-3 kills us. 

"I do not see the end of the cycle, we have a young team and the margin for improvement is enormous, we have to face it and not hide, we've had a s--t season."

Real have looked uninspired for much of the season. 

Manager Zinedine Zidane stepped down last May after leading Real to their third successive Champions League title, and then Cristiano Ronaldo departed for Juventus.

As a result, a slow start to the campaign under new manager Julen Lopetegui seemed inevitable, but the Spaniard lasted only until October before being sacked following a 5-1 loss to Barca.

His replacement, Santiago Solari, initially oversaw an upturn in fortune.

But Real's season has unravelled in the last week:

A 3-0 loss to Barcelona last Wednesday was the end of the line for Real's Copa hopes, and Saturday's 1-0 defeat at the hands of the Blaugrana meant they slipped 12 points off the lead in La Liga.

Things got much worse on Tuesday.

As 13-time winners of the Champions League, Real have long judged themselves by how well they perform on the European stage. 

As long as they were still in with a chance of a fourth successive Champions League title, their season remained alive.

After winning the opening leg against Ajax 2-1, Real headed into Tuesday's clash heavy favourites to advance to the last eight.

After 18 minutes they were behind on aggregate thanks to goals from Hakim Ziyech and David Neres.

With Sergio Ramos suspended, Los Blancos were torn to shreds by Erik ten Hag's wonderful young side, and the supreme Dusan Tadic made it 3-0 just after the hour with a fine strike from the edge of the box.

Marco Asensio briefly gave the Bernabeu hope when he pulled one back, but Lasse Schone then whipped home a stunning free-kick to complete the hammering.

It seems unlikely Solari will survive Tuesday's thrashing, although he may make it to the end of the season:

Real need to pick themselves up quickly as they are back in action at Real Valladolid on Sunday and cannot afford a fourth loss on the spin. 

But there is little chance Carvajal's pithy assessment will be any less valid come the end of the season, no matter what Los Blancos do in their remaining 12 league games.