UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Season

[Mandoy]

Management has certainly considered the current situation, and I'm also sure Florentino Perez won't make a hasty decision given Real Madrid's results so far. Xabi Alonso's task is indeed much more difficult because they have to catch up on Barcelona, even though the gap isn't that big. The opposite is true in the Champions League, as Xabi Alonso must secure victory after victory to advance to the next round. The pressure on Xabi Alonso is indeed much greater, and I'm sure he will resolve the issue slowly, although it won't be easy.

The actual fact is that the hierarchy of real madrid a bit skeptical on retaining the services of xabi Alonso because his real madrid team is not doing enough to compete for the league title, because right now it's just four points that separate them with Barcelona, but if they do not improve the gap may even be wider, and that is what the hierarchies of real madrid is trying to avoid, that's why the future of xabi Alonso at the club is in questioned, and he might be sacked if result does not improve to the better in the next couple of games.
I am a big fan of xabi Alonso at Bayern Leverkusen, but i don't think that he has what it takes to succeed at real madrid since the pressure he is facing is quite overwhelming to him, or it's better to say that the job is bigger than him, not that he is a bad coach.

I believe both of these perspectives are reasonable, although we must also be practical regarding standards of Real Madrid. It is certainly not a big gap of four points to Barcelona but to a club like Madrid it is already alarming, by the time the performances are not convincing. This hierarchy is inherently conservative since they are aware of how fast such loopholes can develop, in the absence of consistency. In champions league, the margin of error is even lower and therefore the pressure on Xabi Alonso is massive. Although he has established himself as a good player at Bayer Leverkusen, it is quite another task to run Real Madrid. It does not make him a bad coach but the pressure on the coach, the media, and the need to succeed immediately may be irresistible at this point of his career.

[fuguebtc]

I am a big fan of xabi Alonso at Bayern Leverkusen, but i don't think that he has what it takes to succeed at real madrid since the pressure he is facing is quite overwhelming to him, or it's better to say that the job is bigger than him, not that he is a bad coach.

An important point here is that alonso had complete freedom to form the squad and manage the squad as he wished at Leverkusen. He does  not get this freedom at Real madrid. At the same time,  it is naturally difficult to manage a squad with so many star  players. Alonso has no previous experience of managing such a squad.

Alonso took charge of Leverkusen in  2022. And this season, leverkusen was in sixth place in the table. In 2021-22 , they  was in third place in the table. After Alonso took charge, their performance declined in the first season. But the Leverkusen management did not decide to fire Alonso. As a result, the following season was the best season in leverkusen's history. They won the Bundesliga title without losing the entire season. Not even Bayern munich could do that.

Alonso has not been  successful with Real Madrid yet. But the Madrid management should not think about  firing alonso this season. Given enough time and opportunity, he can definitely strengthen the Madrid squad. He has the ability and confidence to do so.

[Republikcoin.com]

Management has certainly considered the current situation, and I'm also sure Florentino Perez won't make a hasty decision given Real Madrid's results so far. Xabi Alonso's task is indeed much more difficult because they have to catch up on Barcelona, even though the gap isn't that big. The opposite is true in the Champions League, as Xabi Alonso must secure victory after victory to advance to the next round. The pressure on Xabi Alonso is indeed much greater, and I'm sure he will resolve the issue slowly, although it won't be easy.

As long as Xabi Alonso doesn't give up on the problems he's facing now, I'm still confident he can bring about significant changes for Real Madrid, although turning around a struggling team is no easy feat, as improving in the current season is always more difficult for anyone. Now Florentino Perez will see if Xabi Alonso can still be relied upon this season, because firing a coach in such a precarious situation also carries significant risks for Real Madrid itself. So Florentino Perez will still give Xabi Alonso time before another decision is made.

[Pandu Geddon]

I believe both of these perspectives are reasonable, although we must also be practical regarding standards of Real Madrid. It is certainly not a big gap of four points to Barcelona but to a club like Madrid it is already alarming, by the time the performances are not convincing. This hierarchy is inherently conservative since they are aware of how fast such loopholes can develop, in the absence of consistency. In champions league, the margin of error is even lower and therefore the pressure on Xabi Alonso is massive. Although he has established himself as a good player at Bayer Leverkusen, it is quite another task to run Real Madrid. It does not make him a bad coach but the pressure on the coach, the media, and the need to succeed immediately may be irresistible at this point of his career.

You are right, Xabi faced a lot of pressure in Madrid, but he should have been able to get support for the development of his team. Indeed, Xabi faced different situations in Leverkusen and Madrid. Because Madrid not only wants progress in improving performance, but they also need results with clear goals to achieve. If these were just ordinary teams, I think Xabi would still be considered to continue coaching and building his team. But Madrid surely has a different assessment.

[banana33]

PSG performance this season seems to have declined slightly, but they are still on the right track to retain the trophy. The journey to defend the Champions League trophy is not as easy as imagined, historically, only a few teams have ever succeeded in doing so. PSG certainly needs to work harder, as the competition this season is much more competitive.

yes it was definitely a growing phase for the team that started to do its best only halfway through the championship, at the beginning it was a team that started off very slowly and went very slowly but then when,, it started there was no one to match, and then they achieved the treble

[emrecemsan]

yes it was definitely a growing phase for the team that started to do its best only halfway through the championship, at the beginning it was a team that started off very slowly and went very slowly but then when,, it started there was no one to match, and then they achieved the treble

We all remember the way they won the last CL. They had a troubling league phase and didn't give any green light. However things changed drastically later on and they became the champions with a superb effort...

But this season makes me feel different. I don't think they'll manage to repeat the same achievement. Because they are dealing with injuries very often. For example Dembélé couldn't even play for long due to being injured mostly so far.

[pewboy]

Take over Arsenal from top of standings is what will be the difficult things for Manchester City. Because Arteta will not allowed that happen for Arsenal, he will make sure to implement a plan for Arsenal to make them gets a maximum points too so that they can also boost their points.

Arsenal are clearly under pressure but i understand them, in the sense that they are a team that can certainly do very well but having a team like Manchester City behind them they are certainly afraid of making some big mistakes, they must keep calm and try to get the situation under control.

[tottong]

PSG's performance has decreased there is no doubt about that, but I feel that they still have a good chance to clinch the Champions League title. This is because other strong teams like Liverpool and Real Madrid are also not doing great this season. In exception of Arsenal and Bayern Munich, they still have chances of winning the champions league.

PSG's chances of retaining the title this season will be slightly more difficult even if Real Madrid, Liverpool, or Manchester City also experience a decline in performance.
On the other hand, Arsenal and Bayern Munich are perhaps slightly more favored because they have both performed consistently so far, apart from Bayern Munich's defeat against Arsenal. This season, it's difficult to predict which team has a greater chance of winning the Champions League because it's still the group stage, so there are still many matches to play.
Despite their consistent performance so far in the Champions League, doesn't necessarily guarantee they will reach the final, as they still have many challenges to overcome after the group stage ends.

[Different patterns]

PSG's performance has decreased there is no doubt about that, but I feel that they still have a good chance to clinch the Champions League title. This is because other strong teams like Liverpool and Real Madrid are also not doing great this season. In exception of Arsenal and Bayern Munich, they still have chances of winning the champions league.

PSG's chances of retaining the title this season will be slightly more difficult even if Real Madrid, Liverpool, or Manchester City also experience a decline in performance.
On the other hand, Arsenal and Bayern Munich are perhaps slightly more favored because they have both performed consistently so far, apart from Bayern Munich's defeat against Arsenal. This season, it's difficult to predict which team has a greater chance of winning the Champions League because it's still the group stage, so there are still many matches to play.
Despite their consistent performance so far in the Champions League, doesn't necessarily guarantee they will reach the final, as they still have many challenges to overcome after the group stage ends.

Very true, it's too early to conclude for now, a team can be consistent in group stage and when it comes to the knockout stage, they become weak, also a team can have decline in performance in group stage and still come to win the title just like PSG last champions league season and a team can put the consistency from the beginning of the game till the end. It's all about management,  when a manager understands his players and he used them when he needs to use them at the right time, the team will hardly decline in performance but when a team performs well in the group stage and becomes weak in the knockout stage,there's a bug problem then probably injury or fatigue and that's why, as a good manager you should know your players well

[Spack17]

Arsenal have really been incredible in the Champions League.

- Scored 17 goals

- Conceded only 1 goal

- Won all of their 6 matches so far including solid victories against Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich  

They are certainly finishing in top 8 as far as I can see. Maybe the only team that have guaranteed it. I'm not sure about Bayern Munich also. 16 points were enough for it last season but I don't know if that will drop more this year.

I'm looking forward to see what especially these 2 teams will do in this season. One of them to qualify for the finale at least maybe?

[irhact]

PSG's chances of retaining the title this season will be slightly more difficult even if Real Madrid, Liverpool, or Manchester City also experience a decline in performance.
On the other hand, Arsenal and Bayern Munich are perhaps slightly more favored because they have both performed consistently so far, apart from Bayern Munich's defeat against Arsenal. This season, it's difficult to predict which team has a greater chance of winning the Champions League because it's still the group stage, so there are still many matches to play.
Despite their consistent performance so far in the Champions League, doesn't necessarily guarantee they will reach the final, as they still have many challenges to overcome after the group stage ends.

I agree, at this stage of the competition, consistency is important but it is not decisive. The Champions League often changes completely after the group stage, when the level of opposition, tactical adjustments, injuries and squad depth start to matter more. PSG will definitely find it harder to retain the title this season with the increased competition and pressure with the big teams in the league. The champion league history has shown that early favorites do not always reach the final, so for now, it remains an open race and knockout rounds will give a clearer picture of who truly has the edge.

[aipercoin]

Although he has established himself as a good player at Bayer Leverkusen, it is quite another task to run Real Madrid. It does not make him a bad coach but the pressure on the coach, the media, and the need to succeed immediately may be irresistible at this point of his career.

Give me an alarming word, it's only 4 points, it's not a gap of 7 or 10 points, in that case i would also say alarming but 4 points are negligible.

Real Madrid's performances haven't been convincing since the start of the season, they aren't shining in every game, they don't play aggressively all the time and often suffer.

Xabi is the first one accused by the fans and by what everyone is complaining they want to throw him out, but why not try to see what happens in the second half of the championship yet?

[cande86]

An important point here is that alonso had complete freedom to form the squad and manage the squad as he wished at Leverkusen. He does  not get this freedom at Real madrid. At the same time,  it is naturally difficult to manage a squad with so many star  players. Alonso has no previous experience of managing such a squad.

Alonso took charge of Leverkusen in  2022. And this season, leverkusen was in sixth place in the table. In 2021-22 , they  was in third place in the table. After Alonso took charge, their performance declined in the first season. But the Leverkusen management did not decide to fire Alonso. As a result, the following season was the best season in leverkusen's history. They won the Bundesliga title without losing the entire season. Not even Bayern munich could do that.

Alonso has not been  successful with Real Madrid yet. But the Madrid management should not think about  firing alonso this season. Given enough time and opportunity, he can definitely strengthen the Madrid squad. He has the ability and confidence to do so.

I think that the big leap that Xabi has made is very difficult compared to where he played before and this thing about freedom is certainly true, but it must be said that it could also be a constraint in the sense that he may not have all the freedoms he had before and therefore prevents him from being himself,  i agree with you

[Not your key not your BTC]

PSG's performance has decreased there is no doubt about that, but I feel that they still have a good chance to clinch the Champions League title. This is because other strong teams like Liverpool and Real Madrid are also not doing great this season. In exception of Arsenal and Bayern Munich, they still have chances of winning the champions league.

PSG's chances of retaining the title this season will be slightly more difficult even if Real Madrid, Liverpool, or Manchester City also experience a decline in performance.
On the other hand, Arsenal and Bayern Munich are perhaps slightly more favored because they have both performed consistently so far, apart from Bayern Munich's defeat against Arsenal. This season, it's difficult to predict which team has a greater chance of winning the Champions League because it's still the group stage, so there are still many matches to play.
Despite their consistent performance so far in the Champions League, doesn't necessarily guarantee they will reach the final, as they still have many challenges to overcome after the group stage ends.

Besides Real Madrid, no other club has ever won back-to-back Champions League titles. It seems PSG will struggle to win the Champions League this season, as their performance has declined. Arsenal and Bayern Munich are consistent, but consistency in the group stage doesn't necessarily translate into the knockout stages, as the pressure is intense, especially when facing strong opponents. The Champions League is all about momentum, not just form. Teams that struggle early can go on a rampage in the knockout stages, while teams that have dominated from the start can collapse in the knockout stages.

[Arenga pinnata]

The actual fact is that the hierarchy of real madrid a bit skeptical on retaining the services of xabi Alonso because his real madrid team is not doing enough to compete for the league title, because right now it's just four points that separate them with Barcelona, but if they do not improve the gap may even be wider, and that is what the hierarchies of real madrid is trying to avoid, that's why the future of xabi Alonso at the club is in questioned, and he might be sacked if result does not improve to the better in the next couple of games.
I am a big fan of xabi Alonso at Bayern Leverkusen, but i don't think that he has what it takes to succeed at real madrid since the pressure he is facing is quite overwhelming to him, or it's better to say that the job is bigger than him, not that he is a bad coach.

Xabi Alonso is not a bad coach. In fact, he can be considered a talented young coach. However, he does not have enough experience to immediately revive a giant team like Real Madrid. He is still not used to the pressure he faces at this club. Nevertheless, he must realize that everyone always expects Real Madrid to perform well. And when the team performs even slightly poorly, it is immediately flooded with criticism. And that is normal for a big club like Real Madrid. Because if other teams are considered bad when their ranking approaches the relegation zone, it is not the case with big teams like Real Madrid. Even being in second place still attracts criticism, and the coach still faces considerable pressure. Because for a team like Real Madrid, the only thing that can satisfy all the fans is to become champions and dominate the league. Xabi Alonso just needs more time.

[marcous]

Arsenal have really been incredible in the Champions League.

- Scored 17 goals

- Conceded only 1 goal

- Won all of their 6 matches so far including solid victories against Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich  

They are certainly finishing in top 8 as far as I can see. Maybe the only team that have guaranteed it. I'm not sure about Bayern Munich also. 16 points were enough for it last season but I don't know if that will drop more this year.

I'm looking forward to see what especially these 2 teams will do in this season. One of them to qualify for the finale at least maybe?

Arsenal and Bayern Munich are two teams that have performed exceptionally well so far in the UCL competition. They're always talked about as strong contenders, but the league stage isn't everything. We'll see how far they go once they reach the round of 16, where matches will be considered life-or-death battles to determine their progression to the next round.

Oh, there's one team that's been a bit surprising to me personally: Atalanta in this early stage. They're poor in Serie A but have managed to reach 5th place in the UCL standings. I think they can also go far.

[bitgolden]

To me, being at the top of the league phase is almost useless. Qualifying for the next round is all that matters. That is where real business happens. I think you people remember how PSG performed last season during the league phase and how the likes of Liverpool had an almost 100% win record.
PSG had to even go for Knockout playoffs and guess who ended up being the champion? 

Yeah this kind of stories happen, just like the one of Spain and Argentina  winning the World Cup after losing their first game to a lesser team who everyone thought was easy target. These are football Cinematic stories, but they don’t happen often. So it’s better to see your team doing well than not. Even with Liverpool leaving the UCL they went on to win the EPL, also reached the finals of the FA Cup.
So no matter what current form matters a lot.

I agree that current for matters a lot. Plus depth means so much if you want to win UCL, because by the time you reach the after group stages, we are talking about 30+ games played for the season, and for some teams it could be getting close to even 40 games, so every player is either tired or even injured which makes it very difficult for teams to play the best players they have. So, if you are a team with a great depth then you are going to have a better chance to win at later stages thanks to rotating.

[martinom]

An important point here is that alonso had complete freedom to form the squad and manage the squad as he wished at Leverkusen. He does  not get this freedom at Real madrid. At the same time,  it is naturally difficult to manage a squad with so many star  players. Alonso has no previous experience of managing such a squad.

Alonso took charge of Leverkusen in  2022. And this season, leverkusen was in sixth place in the table. In 2021-22 , they  was in third place in the table. After Alonso took charge, their performance declined in the first season. But the Leverkusen management did not decide to fire Alonso. As a result, the following season was the best season in leverkusen's history. They won the Bundesliga title without losing the entire season. Not even Bayern munich could do that.

Alonso has not been  successful with Real Madrid yet. But the Madrid management should not think about  firing alonso this season. Given enough time and opportunity, he can definitely strengthen the Madrid squad. He has the ability and confidence to do so.

They are two completely different teams, they require different management, obviously he has more difficulty managing Real Madrid, it is a particular team.
He has a lot of talent and making the most of it is not an easy feat, maybe it is not within his reach.
Personally, i would still give Alonso the chance to manage Real Madrid for next season and then take stock.

[Daniel91]

The actual fact is that the hierarchy of real madrid a bit skeptical on retaining the services of xabi Alonso because his real madrid team is not doing enough to compete for the league title, because right now it's just four points that separate them with Barcelona, but if they do not improve the gap may even be wider, and that is what the hierarchies of real madrid is trying to avoid, that's why the future of xabi Alonso at the club is in questioned, and he might be sacked if result does not improve to the better in the next couple of games.
I am a big fan of xabi Alonso at Bayern Leverkusen, but i don't think that he has what it takes to succeed at real madrid since the pressure he is facing is quite overwhelming to him, or it's better to say that the job is bigger than him, not that he is a bad coach.

Xabi Alonso is not a bad coach. In fact, he can be considered a talented young coach. However, he does not have enough experience to immediately revive a giant team like Real Madrid. He is still not used to the pressure he faces at this club. Nevertheless, he must realize that everyone always expects Real Madrid to perform well. And when the team performs even slightly poorly, it is immediately flooded with criticism. And that is normal for a big club like Real Madrid. Because if other teams are considered bad when their ranking approaches the relegation zone, it is not the case with big teams like Real Madrid. Even being in second place still attracts criticism, and the coach still faces considerable pressure. Because for a team like Real Madrid, the only thing that can satisfy all the fans is to become champions and dominate the league. Xabi Alonso just needs more time.

I agree that Xabi is a very good coach, you just need to look at the great work he did with Bayer in Germany. However, the Real team is quite another matter, a higher level. It’s very difficult to manage a team where the players are bigger stars than the coach, and everyone thinks they should be playing. If a coach has no authority and loses the players’ respect, it becomes impossible to lead such a team. I’m afraid we are seeing the last days of Xabi as Real’s coach because it’s clear that he has lost the players’ trust and entered into conflict with them, which affects the team’s games and results. Real has too big ambitions in the league and the Champions League for this poor run of form and results to be acceptable in the long term.

[Volgastallion]

I really want to see at least one more round b efore the end of the year from the Champions League but we have to wait until january for the last 2 ones.

For me is the best stage of the season were the teams have to do their maximum to reach the spots of qualification plus every goal counts so nobody play for less aside of how much points they have.

Who is gonna be the cinderella? Qarabag? USG? Pafos?