After Real Madrid's UCL comeback falls short, can their project be salvaged?

Just when you think you've seen it all from Real Madrid, they go and play like they did in the first half at the Allianz Arena.

The 15-time European Cup winners, whose unlikely wins in daunting circumstances are central to their identity, have been struggling. They're coasting toward the end of the LaLiga season, nine points off top, and in the UEFA Champions League, they were outplayed by Bayern Munich in last week's first leg.

But in Munich, against one of Europe's top teams, they went and scored three first-half goals -- conceding two -- in 45 breathless minutes, to level the tie at 4-4 and leave you wondering: Could they really do it again? Only one visiting team had ever scored three times in a Champions League first half at the Allianz, and that was Madrid, too, back in 2014, in an away performance for the ages.

In the end, the answer was no, and they go home eliminated at the quarterfinal stage after losing 4-3 on the night, 6-4 on aggregate. But they came desperately close. The tie was headed for extra time until substitute Eduardo Camavinga was sent off for a needless second yellow card. That was quickly followed by Bayern winger Luis Diaz's 89th-minute goal, then Michael Olise scoring brilliantly with the game's last kick.

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"You can't send a player off for a thing like that," coach Álvaro Arbeloa said, citing Camavinga's dismissal as decisive. "I think the referee didn't even know he already had a yellow card." Jude Bellingham muttered that the sending off was una broma, a joke, as he hurried through the mixed zone afterward.

Madrid are now set to end their second season in a row without a major trophy. That is unacceptable at a club where success is measured by adding to the trophy cabinet, and the consequence is likely to be major changes, including for Arbeloa himself.

"I'll accept the consequences of a defeat like this," the coach said. "I understand perfectly any decision the club might take."

The only consolation for Madrid fans was a thrilling and surprising reminder that, on their day -- which hasn't come nearly often enough this season -- this is still a team full of fantastically talented players.

It was also more evidence for some of their critics: If they're capable of this sometimes, against Manchester City or Bayern, why can't they do it more often?

A day earlier, Arbeloa had been forthright in his pre-match news conference: a comeback was absolutely on the table. "We're Real Madrid," Arbeloa said. "If there's a team that can come to this stadium and turn things around, it's us. ... I don't think we need to perform any miracles. Everybody believes."

Arbeloa backed up his words by picking an attack-minded XI, including a midfield four of Federico Valverde, Bellingham, Arda Güler and Brahim Díaz, together for the first time this season.

Güler set the tone, scoring 35 seconds in, Madrid's fastest-ever Champions League goal and the earliest Bayern have ever conceded in this competition. The mistake was goalkeeper Manuel Neuer's, gifting Güler the ball. Güler, a long-range shot specialist, is the last player you want to provide with that kind of opportunity.

The tie was level, but not for long. Five minutes later, Madrid keeper Andriy Lunin badly misjudged Joshua Kimmich's corner, and Bayern midfielder Aleksandar Pavlovic had an easy header to make it 1-1 on the night.

Güler wasn't done. In the 29th minute, his free kick beat Neuer again, the veteran goalkeeper getting a hand to the ball but unable to keep it out. Bayern's Harry Kane soon responded, making it 2-2, with Trent Alexander-Arnold guilty of ball watching.

Madrid kept coming, Vinícius Júnior hitting the bar and then Kylian Mbappé leveling the tie again at 4-4 on aggregate. The move was a blueprint for the best-case scenario for this Madrid team: Bellingham passing to Vinícius, who found Mbappé -- the star trio combining at lightning speed.

"I feel there've been many games where we've mixed really well," Bellingham had said pre-match. "When things are right. I've seen it before."

Mbappé will end the Champions League campaign on 15 goals -- two short of his idol Cristiano Ronaldo's 17-goal record -- as his wait to finally win the competition goes on. In the second half, he was still dangerous, with one chance inside the six-yard box in particular -- set up by Alexander-Arnold's cross-field ball -- saved by Neuer. Later, the forward came close to setting up Bellingham.

Then came Camavinga's red card, having been on the pitch for only 25 minutes, and Diaz's deflected goal.

Madrid's players angrily pursued referee Slavko Vinčić at the final whistle, furious at the Camavinga decision, as coaching staff tried to pull them away. None of them stopped to speak to the media afterward, leaving Arbeloa to reflect on the future alone.

"We've faced a lot of teams [this season]," Arbeloa said. "[Vincent] Kompany's Bayern, Pep Guardiola's City, [Diego] Simeone's Atletico. I don't know how much this team has of me in it. For sure it's much less than the examples I've given.

"I've tried to help the club in the way I've been able to, and it will be that way until the last day."

That day will come at the end of the season, when Madrid -- and president Florentino Perez, who was with the team in Munich -- will have to decide: How much of this project can be salvaged, and how much needs to be torn up and started again?