Alarm bells ringing as AC Milan hand Real Madrid another battering at the Santiago Bernabeu

Real Madrid had nine days to prepare, and stew, following the humiliation at the hands of Real Madrid in El Clasico. But you wouldn't believe it given the performance from the reigning European champions.

AC Milan went in to the Santiago Bernabeu and comfortably Real Madrid 3-1 to deliver a second straight humiliation to the Spanish giants.

Similar to the match against Barcelona, Madrid could have very easily conceded two or three more goals had it not been for saves from Andriy Lunin and some poor final balls from Milan. But the Serie A side were deserved winners.

To make matters worse, manager Carlo Ancelotti seemingly pointed the finger at Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni, who were both taken off at halftime. The French midfielder gave the ball away for Milan's second goal and was criticized for his defending on the corner kick that led to the first goal.

If the alarm bells weren't ringing before or if no one wanted to place the crisis tag on Real Madrid, they certainly can do so now. After coming out defiant following the loss to Barcelona, Ancelotti admitted after the Milan game that there is cause for concern.

"We should be worried because the team isn't playing well," Ancelotti said. "We have to be more solid, more compact. We've conceded a lot of goals.

"It isn't about being patient or not, the reality is what you see on the pitch, which is that we're missing something. Worry in these moments is normal. It will be a long night, but that's what we have to do, think, all of us, about improving things."

Last season, Real Madrid were a "bend, but don't break" team where they looked shaky at the back but their quality up front or Thibaut Courtois would end up bailing them out. Now, Courtois is out and the forward line isn't clicking.

Vinicius Junior was the best of the bunch but he was largely neutralized and was rather fortunate to get the penalty call that led to Madrid's only goal of the game. Mbappe once again missed a couple of chanced you'd assume he would make.

Against Barcelona, an argument was made that Madrid were the better team in the first half and could have gone in to the break with the lead had they been more clinical. That wasn't the case against Milan. They were the better side throughout that the final score flatters Real Madrid.

There are a lot of questions surrounding Real Madrid with no easy or quick answers. Lucas Vazquez isn't a right-back and was once again exposed, this time by Rafael Leao. The midfield doesn't disrupt the opposition attack nor does it create any,

Ancelotti would be the person tasked to finding a solution but he doesn't seem to have any at the moment. He also doesn't seem to trust in the young players as it was another game where neither Arda Guler nor Endrick saw any minutes.

At the moment, Real Madrid is a club in crisis. A crisis they could calm given they still have a lot more quality than the majority of LaLiga sides. Their next match is at home against Osasuna which they should win. Then there is the international break, which could do them some good. But their next Champions League match won't get easier as they play Liverpool at the end of the month.