Spanish press mourn 'death' of Real as UCL holders crash out in Ajax humiliation

Real Madrid's humiliating exit in the Champions League was considered in the Spanish media to be the 'death' of the club.

The Spanish giants have lifted Europe's top prize in four of the last five seasons but suffered their worst exit since 2010 as Ajax produced a devastating 4-1 win on the night at the Bernabeu.

MARCA, who closely follow the exploits of Real Madrid, appeared to be in mourning with their front page, reading: 'Here lies a team that made history'.

Madrid have enjoyed such a stronghold over their rivals in the competition in recent years but have looked shadows of themselves since Cristiano Ronaldo departed for Juventus in the summer.

Sport used a photo of a head buried inside a shirt in anguish with the headline, 'End of an Era,' after what they described as an 'embarrassing' exit in the last-16.

'Madrid suffers a shameful KO in the Bernabeu that throws them out of the Champions League,' the front page continued.

'And the Bernabeu calls: 'Florentino, resign!'

While boos and anger was directed towards Thibaut Courtois, Gareth Bale and Co, the reaction on Wednesday has also seen the position of Madrid chief Florentino Perez called into question after such a feeble defence of the title they won with victory over Liverpool in Kiev last May.

The verdicts were damning as Real were blown away by their exciting, youthful opponents on the night.

Mundo Deportivo highlighted a week whereby the club have 'Nothing at all' left to play for.

Back-to-back El Clasico defeats to Barcelona saw them eliminated in the Copa del Rey and all but ruled out of the La Liga title race.

Tuesday night's exit, after goals from Hakim Ziyech, David Neres, Dusan Tadic and Lasse Schone, compounded a season of misery.

AS diario echoed the sentiments of their wounded rivals in the press as they led with 'Tragic week' with Madrid left with wounds that could take some time to heal.

Players were left shell-shocked at having detonated any hopes of a trophy in a single week, with defender Dani Carvajal holding nothing back on what he describes as a 's**t season.'

Carvajal said in defeat: 'We have to be professional. We have to not hide.

'We have to show our faces but we know that we have had a s**t season.

'This is my worst night of my career. In a week, we lost it all and we lost it all at home. They were better, they deserved to go through.'