Regardless of luck in football, when you’re good and have experience and also know how to play the game better, you’ll always be the most favored anytime you play and you’ll always win most of your matches. Real Madrid has gathered a lot of experience that you don’t need to doubt them anymore, they’re the best in their league and also the best in the champions league being the defending champions. When they play, we always assume that they’ll win the match and no other team can stand them. Luck also plays its role in football but luck still comes to those who try and try to put some effort into winning that’s the only way luck will work for them. Smaller teams are less lucky because efforts they put are minimal and they lack that experience unlike the big teams.
I agree with you, that there is a luck in the competition but if any team fail to display quality performance from the beginning of the competition to position in a good position, I think it will be difficult for such team to experience the luck from the competition, because it go along with the team experience. For example, Real Midred that won last champion league title, I can still remember that many people thought that Manchester city or other teams will be the one to win the title but based on Real Midred preparation for the competition and their performance from the competition made them to embrace the luck from the tournament last season. That is what is still going to happen in this season, because the smaller teams are not ready to purchase some new players to boost their performance which it will be difficult for them to experience the luck in this season again.
Real Madrid with its ideal squad is the team that is most favored to win the Champions League trophy next season, followed by Manchester City. It seems that many bettors will think the same in this case, but we must leave room for surprises that can come from other dark horse teams. With the Champions League format that has changed, of course the map of competition and everything in it has changed, although we realize that the two teams above are still the main strengths. Actually, it is still too early to assess the strengths and opportunities of each team, although we can see these two things at a glance before the competition starts.