With the way in which their UEFA Champions League 2024-25 marketing campaign goes, anybody would battle to recognise Actual Madrid as the present title holders.
The Merengues have been in a position to win solely 2 of their 5 matches within the League Section of the competitors, with one among their wins coming in opposition to Salzburg within the opening fixture of the competitors, and the opposite coming in opposition to Borussia Dortmund of their third recreation which noticed Los Blancos getting back from a 2-0 deficit at half-time to win the match with a 5-2 scoreline.
In between these two video games, Actual Madrid unexpectedly fell to a defeat in opposition to the French facet Lille. Equally, , and the development solely continued as they confronted their hardest opponents on this section of the competitors, Liverpool, final evening and fell to a 2-0 defeat at Anfield.
With these outcomes, Actual Madrid at the moment stand twenty fourth within the UCL rankings, the final spot for the groups that may qualify for the Spherical of 16 after enjoying a playoff match.
Within the new format of the competitors, groups rating from 1 to eight will advance on to the Spherical of 16, from 9 to 24 should play a play-off, and people from 25 to 36 can be eradicated from the competitors.
Having gathered solely 6 factors so far, ending the League Section within the prime 8 positions is nearly inconceivable for the Merengues, because the lowest-ranked workforce on this class, Monaco, have 10 factors to their title, that are the identical as these of the groups rating from ninth to twelfth positions.
Thus, competitors for this eighth spot itself goes to be fairly fierce, with groups like Bayern Munich, Manchester Metropolis, and Atletico Madrid amongst these vying for it.
Moreover, Actual Madrid’s upcoming fixtures within the competitors are additionally not going to be simple, as they’re set to face Atalanta, one other high-quality attacking workforce of their subsequent match. Following that recreation, the Merengues can be going through RB Salzburg and Brest, two different groups that may show troublesome for Los Blancos to beat like Lille.
However protecting in view their place within the desk, Actual Madrid should win at the least two of those three video games to make sure they survive within the competitors. Then again, incapability to get these outcomes can lead the workforce to drop even decrease than their present twenty fourth place, which means the Merengues won’t make it to the Spherical of 16, one thing that has by no means occurred within the UCL period.
Ancelotti was fairly assured as he addressed the press convention after the loss final evening, however getting these outcomes can be simpler stated than finished, because the workforce’s performances within the UCL so far have clearly proven.
