Topic: UEFA Champions League 2024/25 Season - page 109. (Read 35267 times)

The biggest thing is that with Messi and Ronaldo not in Europe at the moment and Mbappe joining Real Madrid, Mbappe has no worthy challenger to win the Ballon d'Or next season. Mbappe's Ballon d'Or win was made even easier by signing with Real Madrid. Mbappe now has to defend himself but he should have done better in the first match of La Liga where we didn't get the performance we expected from Mbappe. 
However, Mbappe has played two matches in Real Madrid jersey so far where he scored in the first match but he didn't get a chance to score in the second match but he has a full season ahead of him and if he can play at his best then he can definitely top the La Liga top scorer list. 

Millions of Mbappe fans are hoping that Mbappe will do well in La Liga as well as in the Champions League and add a Ballon d'Or to his name next season.

Yeah, it's just a single march, which means there're more matches that can still be utilised by Realmadrid towards achieving the trophy or they can just keep on the way they started ( not possible though). I didn't see too much defence in the game actually,if there was then they won't have had their early goal which put them at front in the first place.
Let's just say, the defence might have increased a little when it was equal but I don't think it should hold them back with their squad .. still wondering how they lost It actually but I wasn't too surprised, they do have a lot of plans 

You are too quick to judge just by one match, there is still plenty of time for Ancelotti to find his best formation. Currently Ancelotti has not found the best formation after losing Kross and the presence of Mbappe in the front line. Real Madrid's front line has not found the right chemistry, so it is natural that their first match in Laliga ended in a draw and I don't think it will affect the Champions League because Real Madrid will have a different passion when playing in the Champions League.

However, the match against Mallorca will be the best result for Real Madrid to improve themselves in the next match. In this match, it was very clear that Mallorca's defense line was very solid and Real Madrid's attacks were less creative. In addition, if you look at it, after the BBC trio era, Real Madrid has always had a bit of difficulty winning at Mallorca's home every season. Mallorca always goes all out every time they face Madrid like a final. But never mind, be grateful for this result, this is just the beginning, Ancelotti will definitely continue to improve to face the Champions League to be stronger.

I wonder about this but at the same time being sceptical about this Real Madrid’s team. If this has happened in like three or more occasions I may have concluded that they will not be able to do anything meaningful this season and other teams won’t be so scared to face them in the champions league because of their poor outing with even smaller teams like Mallorca. I will only say the result was not what was expected from them but I don’t think this result will even make them feel that bad that it’ll affect their upcoming games, they might be more more ruthless in the coming weeks due to this first loss of the season they started with.


Real Madrid don’t have much work to do for me as far as tactical approach into a game is concerned. They’ve been one of the best teams from last season and after the addition of more elites players this season, they can only get better than they are before. The champions league still awaits them this season and they are still the best for the champions league title as far as the competition is concerned not until it fully begins and we see a change in some clubs that shows more seriousness than them to win it.

An elite club doesn't stand strong enough without holding on proper grounds in the transfer window. Real Madrid have a whole working to do and this simply the best team in La Liga. Real Madrid won the super cup when they thrashed Atalanta 2-0. This is absolutely one of the best squad any potential manager would wished for. Carlo Ancelotti have rearrange his team and planning on exploring his tactics because there's more to accomplish.

As a Croatian and Dinamo Zagreb fan, unfortunately I have to agree with you that Qarabag has more than realistic chances to reach CL, I would say probably its 50/50.

All Dinamo fans hoped to play against Ludogorets for CL, knowing how dangerous Qarabag is. Dinamo has experience on theri side and if Petkovic has one of his good days, Dinamo will go through. Otherwise, its gonna be very tough.

I simply canb't bet against my team, but I think that betting on surprise (Qarabag winning) is not a bad idea risk/reward wise.

Indeed. Real Madrid has great attackers, they have an ideal striker now. Mbappe makes Real Madrid to have 3 top attackers again. Sure, Mbappe is also an asset for Real Madrid. Real Madrid signed him for free, Real Madrid could sell him at high transfer fees. Real Madrid is lucky to sign Mbappe at a free agent status.

Mbappe, Vinicius, and Rodrygo could play well in the match against Atalanta, but they played badly in the first match of La Liga (against Mallorca). I even sometimes saw him playing too individually. Mbappe also still can't adapt well with Real Madrid game.


As far as I know, Real Madrid weak part is their defense. Real Madrid is still trying to get a new defender. I think Real Madrid defense will be stronger if Alaba has beed recovered. There are many people who dream to see a combination between Rudiger-Alaba. Militao still can't play consistently after they got a long time injury. Whatever the formation or tactics, it can't work well if the players can't play as a solid team.

I think that if he was in a big club he would already have a few Golden Balls simply because he didn't play and didn't win in Europe, it must also be said that Messi has always been the FIFA boy par excellence and only Ronaldo managed to snatch others wouldn't have succeeded as we've seen, so what matters is that you now play in a big club and push to win it!

https://x.com/realmadrid/status/1825297721751658862
After the match ended, Carlo Ancelotti gave a statement about his club, he said that "We are a very offensive team, but the balance of defense is very important", it means he highlighted the performance in the back line that was less than optimal in this match. It does not mean blaming the defenders who caused them to fail to win, but they need to improve their defensive performance.

From the statistics and from the game that I saw from Mallorca, I cannot say that Mallorca was lucky to avoid defeat. Because they were also able to play well and were able to threaten Real Madrid until finally they were able to score a goal in the 53rd minute. Mallorca knew very well who they were facing, so they made very thorough preparations and not only that, the strategy that was planned from the start they were able to implement it well on the field.

Leverkusen fans were sweating bullets! To be honest, though, this Bundesliga season is great. Everyone properly is talking about Bayern and Leverkusen. Still keep an eye on Dortmund. Particularly with that new striker, they have been displaying some wise decisions. They are not wasting time playing about. I understand as the bookies still favor Bayern right now. They are the top. But Leverkusen has the title to defend. And of course, Dortmund is arriving hot.

Leverkusen displayed some magic against Stuttgart. That comeback is classic. I hope that they can be consistent like they were. Every match counts. Bayern is going to pack the heat; Dortmund has their team very strong. Its not only about the title this season. Its about pride, about showing your worth. And including these three teams, it will be a combat royale.

I always say, a strong team will not always win every match. That's why football is unique and interesting. Talking about Madrid's match in La Liga, I quote what Don Carlo said after the match ended. He said he was not happy with the draw, but we can learn more from this match because it was clear where we could have problems. Well, we can examine what Ancelotti said, that he saw something lacking in his team. Real Madrid is a very competitive team, but that doesn't mean they will definitely beat every opponent in various competitions. Especially in the Champions League, they need to be careful because their competitors are also strong teams. Last season Madrid still had two tough midfielders, Toni Kroos and Luca Modric. These two players play a very important role in the Madrid team itself. Currently, Don Carlo prioritizes his young midfielders, they need adjustments so that the team can synergize and play impressively in every match they play. Moreover, currently Modric is only a substitute player. Even so, Madrid will again be a team that is highly respected by every opponent. this is just the beginning and maybe Mbappe needs to adjust to achieve chemistry with his teammates, what is certain is that Madrid's chances in the Champions League are wide open to defend the title they won last season.

What you wrote above cannot be denied because in football there are always unexpected surprises, Real Madrid failed to win their first match in La Liga because Mallorca defended very well. The recent draw in the domestic league does not mean that Real Madrid's strength and sharpness are starting to decline, any team will have difficulty facing an opponent who places most of their players in the defensive area.
The draw that Real Madrid just achieved will actually make Ancelotti maintain the tactics used by his opponent even more in order to find a solution to penetrate the solid defense. This is just the beginning, in the next few matches Real Madrid players will show everyone their true strength.

Bookmakers see the first game as:

4.10 - 3.75 - 1.85

Galatasaray is the obvious favorite in this game and in the sum of the two games. But still, it seems to me that Turkish teams have a big imbalance between their results on away and in home games. And knowing that they have a return game at home in reserve, they might not be very motivated to win. If I were to bet here I would go for Young Boys Double Chance.

The attacking depth this season from Real Madrid is very good. They have added Mbappe who will be a very big asset to the team if he is able to adjust properly and put his ego aside which I think he has done. I am saying this because of what I saw from their match against Atalanta. But still, I think Real Madrid has some work to do.

Real Madrid’s weakness I think is their weakest point right now, although I am calling it weak, it is not really that weak and best in Europe probably. But what I am concerned about their defense is its depth. Its depth is very low, now that Nacho Fernandez has left Real Madrid. Alaba was never a good center-back to me. Militao and Rudiger are their first-team defenders. On his day, Militao is very good but I think he is very inconsistent. I think Real Madrid should invest in a very good center-back and increase its depth. But if this team is consistent and can keep the form of last season, they might win all 3 competitions this season.

Regards

Duke

It's not a matter of likely but Real Madrid is the defending champion and of course, is a viable one that might replicate the success if they can maintain a good feat like last season. This time that Mbappe has joined them, I wish them better luck and another UCL added to his achievement in football. It's nevertheless disappointing with what the club has played this new season, I never expected Mallorca to draw them and it shows that more is to be done.

But Barcelona won its first season match against Valencia though everyone is still silent about that because Real Madrid is the reigning champion in both La Liga and the UCL. People often talked about the winner and no wonder the wide gap of 3.95 (Madrid) to 13.10 (Barcelona) in that book maker's speculation. This is however not so important because the bookies could be wrong and odds are not the yardstick to know the club that will lift the trophy. Still, I love the way the bookie did not undermine the capability of Man City and gave them the best odds. I've not seen a better club than it in Europe this time, UCL or not.

I don't think this is gonna be a stressful game for Galatasaray. Though Young Boys is back to back play at Champion league, but i think this is somewhat an easy game for Galatasaray. This is because Young Boys has lost some players, and they started badly this season. This makes me feel so confident to believe if we're gonna beat them in the first leg.

I think there's nothing to feel worried about, and we're so lucky enough to have Young Boys as our opponent. However, people call Young Boys a team that fights and causes a lot of problems in Europe. But It will not be a complicated match for us to beat them.

I'm so optimistic to pick Galatasaray to qualify for the UCL. This is the last round before we can qualify for it. My prediction is the match gonna end with narrow score, 1-0 at best, and 1-1 at the worst result.

Lol 😂 this is exactly what some of the football fans have being trying to express because not without doubt people that  football very well saw this and also I said it in couple of my statement when some persons were being so certain that real madrid will literally destroy everyone that comes their way of which its just ain't that easy because just like you said even when barca was a complete team, they weren't the perfect team that won everything I believe they get beaten sometimes and even knocked out of the competition and I believe their own formation was far better than even this Madrid squad @ MSN

I no that so many people will be disappointed in real Madrid because playing 1:1 against Mallorca was the last thing  they expected from them and besides I know that with the kind of squad they have so many gamblers would certainly use them on there bet because there is no way they would imagine the match to end this way, i noticed that real Madrid force was not like there first match if not there is no way they would have draw the match, though they perform very well because they dominated the match very well but what they lack on that match was consistency if not after Rodrygo score the first goal real Madrid would have lock up, however in term of the red card they are even lucky they had it on the last minutes if not who knows what would have happened.

This is all a question of statistics. If they work well as a team there is no problem ever when it comes to the number of star players. As if Real Madrid wasn't full of star players all the time. See how Ronaldo took the leading role back at the time and Benzema and Higuain had trouble getting into the limelight themselves, but the fact of the matter was that Ronaldo had an inbuilt guarantee for goals. Hence nobody cared most of the time when he took a shot instead of passing the ball.

These guys will now need some time to learn all the mechanics from each other. What's indeed a bit complicated is that both Mbappe and Vinicius are high speed attackers who both love to have a lot of room and go for deep runs. They are very similar. In the game against RCD Mallorca they hardly found any solutions and that is what happens when you have these high speed strikers who are not given the space they need. It requires more genius dribblings. But I think Mbappe will become their most important striker.

Real as a club is bigger than the players, which I think helps that everyone subordinates himself for the success of the club. When Mbappe played for PSG, it wasn't like that. All of the superstars thought the club depends on them.

But again the problem against Mallorca was that there was no depth on the field for them as Mallorca knows what Mbappe and Vinicius love the most. That's where in the future they will need to find solutions. I can imagine that they are more dangerous against teams that love to have the ball themselves and are not waiting deep in their own half. Mbappe was up against three to four players at once all the time and the same happened to Vinicius.

It was an unexpected result indeed. Especially after getting a big win against Atalanta in the UEFA Super Cup.    However I wouldn't still judge them for the rest of the season already now. Because we are in very much the beginning of the season. Many favourite teams can have a slow start in their domestic leagues. I believe we will watch a really effective Real Madrid in the Champions League.

Messi - Mbappe - Neymar was a great trio on paper. But Neymar's injury-prone nature was enough to break this trio. Messi wasn't in his prime either. I believe Real Madrid's current trio is better than that.