Real Madrid are losing the aura that made them seem invincible

First Vinicius Junior tried to rev up the crowd. Then Rodrygo lifted his arms, begging for more noise. The Santiago Bernabeu barely responded. There were more whistles than cheers during Tuesday's match against AC Milan. Some of them were for Milan. Most of them were for Real Madrid.

Briefly, the mood shifted. Antonio Rudiger rifled in a rebound with nine minutes to go, making it 3-2. Madrid's anthem started to play. Then the video assistant stepped in and ruled Rudiger offside.

Just like that, the inevitable comeback, the key ingredient of Madrid's most impressive Champions League victories, didn't seem so inevitable. A number of chances came and went. Vinicius steered a header wide. Brahim Diaz couldn't beat Mike Maignan from point-blank range. Eder Militao skied a volley well over the crossbar. And it was over. Milan won 3-1, beating Madrid for the first time since 2009.

It all seemed so desperate. Madrid made so much of their recent history from losing positions, refusing to accept defeat with the clock running out. They showed composure when most teams would melt. But they were in a puddle on Tuesday. The team of match-winning moments couldn't produce another.

Milan, meanwhile, played with real courage in the Spanish capital. You could argue they had no choice. They're seventh in Serie A and entered the week 25th in the Champions League table. They had to show something.

The Rossoneri could also take encouragement from the way Lille beat Madrid last month and the manner in which Borussia Dortmund so easily soared to an early 2-0 lead at the Bernabeu two weeks ago. But this result wasn't just an upset. It was convincing. Madrid conceded nine shots on target Tuesday - more than they have allowed in any home game at this stage of the competition since the start of the 2003-04 season.

Madrid have conceded a lot before and still found a way to win. They teased their opponents, giving them a lead only to snatch it back for good. Carlo Ancelotti - and Zinedine Zidane before him - trusted his players to problem-solve their way to victory. Ancelotti and Zidane let them do their thing, knowing they'd come good.

But they didn't when Barcelona swarmed them in El Clasico last weekend, and they didn't here. The comeback win over Dortmund - in which they turned a 2-0 deficit into a 5-2 finish - now feels like the exception.

Los Blancos used to play with a sense of restraint and control when they went down, as if they knew what was going to happen next, waiting for their chance to show up and doing everything to take it. They have none of that conviction now. They go end-to-end and suffer the consequences. Players who should know better give up the ball in neutral situations. They press, but only briefly, letting teams like Milan snake their way out from the back.

If Ancelotti wants rock-and-roll football, the stars of the band have to nail each note. But they haven't. Kylian Mbappe doesn't look comfortable as the target man. Jude Bellingham doesn't look happy doing the dirty work in midfield. Rodrygo is in and out of the lineup and without a goal in six matches.

It's like they've lost their compass. Karim Benzema isn't there to score in stoppage time. Nacho Fernandez isn't there to keep heads cool at the back. Toni Kroos isn't there to play tidy passes. It's not that these players could deliver on command. It's that Madrid knew they would.