Real Madrid facing a challenge to remain alive in their favourite competition | OneFootball

With the way their UEFA Champions League 2024-25 campaign is going, anyone would struggle to recognise Real Madrid as the current title holders.

The Merengues have been able to win only 2 of their 5 matches in the League Phase of the competition, with one of their wins coming against Salzburg in the opening fixture of the competition, and the other coming against Borussia Dortmund in their third game which saw Los Blancos coming back from a 2-0 deficit at half-time to win the match with a 5-2 scoreline.

In between these two games, Real Madrid unexpectedly fell to a defeat against the French side Lille. Similarly, they once again ended up losing the 4th game in the League Phase to AC Milan, and the trend only continued as they faced their toughest opponents in this phase of the competition, Liverpool, last night and fell to a 2-0 defeat at Anfield.

With these results, Real Madrid currently stand 24th in the UCL rankings, the last spot for the teams that can qualify for the Round of 16 after playing a playoff match.

In the new format of the competition, teams ranking from 1 to 8 will advance directly to the Round of 16, from 9 to 24 will have to play a play-off, and those from 25 to 36 will be eliminated from the competition.

Having accumulated only 6 points up to now, finishing the League Phase in the top 8 positions is almost impossible for the Merengues, as the lowest-ranked team in this category, Monaco, have 10 points to their name, which are the same as those of the teams ranking from 9th to 12th positions.

Thus, competition for this 8th spot itself is going to be quite fierce, with teams like Bayern Munich, Manchester City, and Atletico Madrid among those vying for it.

Furthermore, Real Madrid’s upcoming fixtures in the competition are also not going to be easy, as they are set to face Atalanta, another high-quality attacking team in their next match. Following that game, the Merengues will be facing RB Salzburg and Brest, two other teams that can prove difficult for Los Blancos to beat like Lille.

But keeping in view their position in the table, Real Madrid will have to win at least two of these three games to ensure they survive in the competition. On the other hand, inability to get these results can lead the team to drop even lower than their current 24th position, meaning the Merengues will not make it to the Round of 16, something that has never happened in the UCL era.

Ancelotti was quite confident as he addressed the press conference after the loss last night, but getting these results will be easier said than done, as the team’s performances in the UCL up to now have clearly shown.