FIFA's Transfer Ban had been imposed, undoubtedly making Real Madrid's already difficult situation even worse.
Although the management and coaching staff had acted quickly to reassure the players, the uproar outside the club was still enormous. With the media fanning the flames, they first accused Barcelona of reporting Real Madrid in a conspiracy theory, then turned their attention to Bayern Munich, even forcing Bayern Munich's Rummenigge to personally come forward and deny the rumors.
After the media whipped things up, the whole world had begun paying attention.
Real Madrid was already in a period of adjusting its fitness and form. Combined with the pressure from public opinion, the team's performances had suffered a significant decline.
On January 20, Real Madrid hosted Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinals.
After a hard-fought ninety minutes, Real Madrid had performed poorly and simply could not breach Atletico Madrid's goal at home.
Oblak had once again produced a heroic performance, winning Man of the Match and helping the Mattress Makers keep Real Madrid scoreless at the Bernabéu.
But what truly worried people was Real Madrid's own condition. The team was simply too unstable.
What was even more surprising was that three days later, in the twenty-first round of La Liga, Real Madrid visited Real Betis.
Just seven minutes after kickoff, Carmona scored for Real Betis. Real Madrid had to wait until the seventy-first minute for Suarez to equalize.
Neither side managed to score again, and Real Madrid eventually drew 1–1 away to Real Betis.
Real Madrid had taken twenty-three shots, with eight on target, but scored only once. Real Betis had taken four shots, with two on target, and also scored once. Real Madrid's scoring efficiency had clearly dropped by a substantial margin.
What truly worried people, however, was