UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Season

[Webetcoins]

Dortmund definitely has a better chance without a doubt, but the gap isn't huge, its pretty close. I agree that Dortmund is ahead, but they are ahead by a hair and not by a lot. Look at how Atalatna just defeated Juventus and you can see that sometimes your ranking in the league doesn't matter and there are other things that matter in this case.

I agree that its not going to be easy for Atalanta but it won't be impossible neither. But most likely result would be Dortmund winning this series and going to last sixteen.

[Amphenomenon]

They are working on what? During the last years I didn't see any real improvement in their defense. Rudiger is still probably the best defender they have, and he's like 33-34 years old. Personally I never liked Militão, I always felt he was very overestimated, he is just a decent player who plays better when he has a real defender next to him (Ramos, Rudiger...) but when he has to guide the defense he is just not good enough. They also brought in Huijsen, but it's too early to judge him. He has a lot of potential, we'll see whether he's going to be the next Hierro or Pavon.

Dean Huijsen has shown some good signs and Asencio also but he still have his lapses. Militão has been suffering injury setbacks and so can't really say much about him but Rudiger is still being affected by age, he is not like before and other defenders aside Alaba lacks experience.

I feel like they should go for defenders with experience around 28 to 30 years, the younger ones already has the skill or talents but just lack enough experience.

[Ndabagi01]

Dortmund definitely has a better chance without a doubt, but the gap isn't huge, its pretty close. I agree that Dortmund is ahead, but they are ahead by a hair and not by a lot. Look at how Atalatna just defeated Juventus and you can see that sometimes your ranking in the league doesn't matter and there are other things that matter in this case.

I agree that its not going to be easy for Atalanta but it won't be impossible neither. But most likely result would be Dortmund winning this series and going to last sixteen.

Easily said than done, Dortmund shouldn’t look down on Atalanta because they are a team that have shown great performance in the champions league round 1 and this has given them an opportunity to play in the playoffs. Dortmund also have a good record in the champions league, but they need to also have shown a more convincing game outplay in this match to picture them for a chance in the next round of the champions league.

This is going to be a very tough game regardless of the points we’re coming with to compare this two teams. Both of them have shown a good game so far in the champions league and going further to the next round of the competition means a lot to them. They will still show great form, but time will tell which team will make it to the next round of the competition.

[Unknown01]

They are working on what? During the last years I didn't see any real improvement in their defense. Rudiger is still probably the best defender they have, and he's like 33-34 years old. Personally I never liked Militão, I always felt he was very overestimated, he is just a decent player who plays better when he has a real defender next to him (Ramos, Rudiger...) but when he has to guide the defense he is just not good enough. They also brought in Huijsen, but it's too early to judge him. He has a lot of potential, we'll see whether he's going to be the next Hierro or Pavon.

Dean Huijsen has shown some good signs and Asencio also but he still have his lapses. Militão has been suffering injury setbacks and so can't really say much about him but Rudiger is still being affected by age, he is not like before and other defenders aside Alaba lacks experience.

I feel like they should go for defenders with experience around 28 to 30 years, the younger ones already has the skill or talents but just lack enough experience.

I completely agree with you. Real Madrid is a team that should be the favorite to win the Champions League every year but with their current performance they are not.

Of course young players should be given the opportunity to gain experience, train and develop but they need at least one leading, very experienced and reliable defensive player to guide them and in my opinion even Rüdiger is not sufficient for this position. They need someone like Ramos but there aren't many players like that around these days.

[$weetne$$]

Dortmund in my own prediction will win the game against the Atalanta guys because even though both clubs are seen almost at the same performance level, Borrusia Dortmund seem to have more leverage than the Atalanta team though this should not be any serious information to work with because every club has its own separate domestic league and what’s influencing the position both teams at their domestic side could be entirely different so you can’t judge completely from such indiccstors

Atlanta is not really stable and consistent so they may not be tough enough stop Dortmund seeing how consistent Dortmund has been and the level of strength they have, so far in the champions league, they have beenof really fair performance and so I believe  they will not want to loose in this, if it were to be Inter Milan I would be sure Dortmund would have some really serious challenge on that game but Atalanta is not as stable.

[mv1986]

Haha.. you think.
Benfica against Madrid will scale through to the next stage. We can always go outside betting on this, i dont mind.
Real Madrid is not in better form. As long as José Mourinho will coach Benfica, I trust his boys to win Real Madrid at home, while away they can draw, and win the game with an aggregate score.

So I assume you went all in with all your moeny for Benfica, right?
Cause it's right now at 4x or the home game, so 4x the money in two weeks is better than trading meme coins guaranteed profits, right?

Oh and btw, they just did a 0-0 with the near last team in Primeira, probably a mastermind move from Mourinho we peasants can't comprehend...

It's all about Mourinho. @Agbamoni built a deep trust relationship over the years with Mourinho and everyone who is coached by Mourinho. Time to accept that this is something people like you and me can't grasp. I can only speculate at this point what this trust relationship is all about. It may have to do with the fact that Mourinho exactly knows how to NOT win the Champions League with Real Madrid as he failed to do so when he coached Real Madrid and now this sneaky guy will turn this knowledge into Benfica's advantage.

Best proof how it all depends on the coach only is Xabi Alonso who won it all with Leverkusen and got fired after six months by Real Madrid. Yet some people claim these coaches are magicians.

[Agbamoni]

Dean Huijsen has shown some good signs and Asencio also but he still have his lapses. Militão has been suffering injury setbacks and so can't really say much about him but Rudiger is still being affected by age, he is not like before and other defenders aside Alaba lacks experience.

I feel like they should go for defenders with experience around 28 to 30 years, the younger ones already has the skill or talents but just lack enough experience.

Only Dean Hujisen and Ascencio are promising defenders in the squad. Others are either affected by age or are underperforming. If there is an experienced defender around 29 or 31 in age, guiding Dean Hujisen, I know he is going to bring the best out of him.

Ibrahima Konaté is 26 currently, he should leave for Real Madrid during the summer. Murillo or Van der Van will also be a good signing for Real Madrid during the summer.

[LUCKMCFLY]

Jose Mourinho is a manager who can do the best analysis for his team. He analyzed Real Madrid very well and managed to beat them 4-2 in Portugal. Why shouldn't they do it again? They could catch Real Madrid off guard during this difficult period for them. Two Real Madrid players will be suspended due to red cards. This could be an advantage for Benfica. I think this match will be the most intriguing clash in the Champions League. Having already knocked Real Madrid out of the last eight, will Benfica be able to knock them out of the playoffs as well?

Your analysis is very accurate and the best, but it depends on the attitude with which Madrid goes out to play. If they go out with the same attitude they had the first time, I agree with you, and there's nothing Benfica can do. But if Madrid's players realize they're playing for Real Madrid and react, then be careful because it's like touching a wounded lion's wound I don't recommend that reaction because they could win by a landslide, but I don't know what attitude the players will have.

[Barikui1]

They are working on what? During the last years I didn't see any real improvement in their defense. Rudiger is still probably the best defender they have, and he's like 33-34 years old. Personally I never liked Militão, I always felt he was very overestimated, he is just a decent player who plays better when he has a real defender next to him (Ramos, Rudiger...) but when he has to guide the defense he is just not good enough. They also brought in Huijsen, but it's too early to judge him. He has a lot of potential, we'll see whether he's going to be the next Hierro or Pavon.

Not all defenders can flourish by leading from the back, some flourish and do very well when a defender with leadership qualities are playing next to them, and this is why militao always struggles anytime Antonio rudiger or any time he is not playing with a defender with such personality.
I actually like him because he is pretty decent, but he is not in that bracket of top level defenders if we are calling names of the best. What have really helped this real madrid team defensively is their midfield , because if the midfield is not shielding their defense enough, result would have really been worse this season.

[Ale88]

They are working on what? During the last years I didn't see any real improvement in their defense. Rudiger is still probably the best defender they have, and he's like 33-34 years old. Personally I never liked Militão, I always felt he was very overestimated, he is just a decent player who plays better when he has a real defender next to him (Ramos, Rudiger...) but when he has to guide the defense he is just not good enough. They also brought in Huijsen, but it's too early to judge him. He has a lot of potential, we'll see whether he's going to be the next Hierro or Pavon.

Dean Huijsen has shown some good signs and Asencio also but he still have his lapses. Militão has been suffering injury setbacks and so can't really say much about him but Rudiger is still being affected by age, he is not like before and other defenders aside Alaba lacks experience.

I feel like they should go for defenders with experience around 28 to 30 years, the younger ones already has the skill or talents but just lack enough experience.

I completely agree with you. Real Madrid is a team that should be the favorite to win the Champions League every year but with their current performance they are not.

Of course young players should be given the opportunity to gain experience, train and develop but they need at least one leading, very experienced and reliable defensive player to guide them and in my opinion even Rüdiger is not sufficient for this position. They need someone like Ramos but there aren't many players like that around these days.

Of course young players should be given the opportunity to gain experience but there is a big difference between a young defender (or goalkeeper) and a young midfielder or striker: if the first makes a mistake, then you are conceding a goal while in the second case you simply miss a goal. An offensive team like Real Madrid cannot play with a bunch of young defenders, they need some experienced players.

[MarjorieZimmermanGinger]

Your analysis is very accurate and the best, but it depends on the attitude with which Madrid goes out to play. If they go out with the same attitude they had the first time, I agree with you, and there's nothing Benfica can do. But if Madrid's players realize they're playing for Real Madrid and react, then be careful because it's like touching a wounded lion's wound I don't recommend that reaction because they could win by a landslide, but I don't know what attitude the players will have.

In this match I see Real Madrid's chances of winning the match are much greater because the effectiveness of Benfica's attack should have been studied by the Real Madrid coach. The previous defeat was also inseparable from player fatigue because we saw that almost all Real Madrid players seemed to have lost their usual stamina in that match so they had a little difficulty. Real Madrid must be able to perform optimally in this match because winning is something important, especially as this team is known to have a much better mentality even though this season is a little different.

[barisbilgili]

Your analysis is very accurate and the best, but it depends on the attitude with which Madrid goes out to play. If they go out with the same attitude they had the first time, I agree with you, and there's nothing Benfica can do. But if Madrid's players realize they're playing for Real Madrid and react, then be careful because it's like touching a wounded lion's wound I don't recommend that reaction because they could win by a landslide, but I don't know what attitude the players will have.

In this match I see Real Madrid's chances of winning the match are much greater because the effectiveness of Benfica's attack should have been studied by the Real Madrid coach. The previous defeat was also inseparable from player fatigue because we saw that almost all Real Madrid players seemed to have lost their usual stamina in that match so they had a little difficulty. Real Madrid must be able to perform optimally in this match because winning is something important, especially as this team is known to have a much better mentality even though this season is a little different.

I think in football it's not all about that; there are other aspects we also need to consider, such as the mentality and self-confidence of Benfica's players, which increased drastically after their victory against Real Madrid in the previous match. On the other hand, Real Madrid is facing many problems, which cannot be denied. 
Personally, I have doubts about Real Madrid because their coach does not have sufficient experience, especially in the knockout stages of the Champions League, and that will have a significant impact.

[eightdots]

Your analysis is very accurate and the best, but it depends on the attitude with which Madrid goes out to play. If they go out with the same attitude they had the first time, I agree with you, and there's nothing Benfica can do. But if Madrid's players realize they're playing for Real Madrid and react, then be careful because it's like touching a wounded lion's wound I don't recommend that reaction because they could win by a landslide, but I don't know what attitude the players will have.

In this match I see Real Madrid's chances of winning the match are much greater because the effectiveness of Benfica's attack should have been studied by the Real Madrid coach. The previous defeat was also inseparable from player fatigue because we saw that almost all Real Madrid players seemed to have lost their usual stamina in that match so they had a little difficulty. Real Madrid must be able to perform optimally in this match because winning is something important, especially as this team is known to have a much better mentality even though this season is a little different.

I think Real Madrid has learned its lesson from the first game and will implement its plan accordingly. After all, Real Madrid is a big team, and if they play well, their opponent may not have the strength to respond. Starting well is crucial in matches like this because when you let your guard down, your opponent will always take advantage of opportunities.

They also need to have a backup plan in place for this game because, although Real Madrid is a stronger team than their opponent, we saw in the previous game that they still have a chance to lose. I think Real Madrid's starting eleven will also be an important indicator in this match.

[Tamaperdana]

Dortmund definitely has a better chance without a doubt, but the gap isn't huge, its pretty close. I agree that Dortmund is ahead, but they are ahead by a hair and not by a lot. Look at how Atalatna just defeated Juventus and you can see that sometimes your ranking in the league doesn't matter and there are other things that matter in this case.

I agree that its not going to be easy for Atalanta but it won't be impossible neither. But most likely result would be Dortmund winning this series and going to last sixteen.

Honestly,, I don't have a good prediction for this match, because both teams clearly have similar performances. Therefore, anything can happen in this match. Therefore, if you favor Dortmund in this match, I think you should also be careful, because Atalanta usually performs well when facing big teams, and therefore I think this match will be very difficult to predict. However,, if we refer to their positions in the final Champions League standings,, Atalanta is clearly superior to Dortmund.

Because Atalanta is currently in 15th place while Dortmund is in 17th. But that cannot be a good benchmark for predicting this match. But personally,, I currently prefer to choose Atalanta because I currently see Dortmund's performance experiencing a fairly drastic decline. This is different from the previous season where they performed better in this competition. So that's why I personally don't really believe in this team at the moment and decided to just bet on Atalanta in this first leg.

[Black Mbaye]

Your analysis is very accurate and the best, but it depends on the attitude with which Madrid goes out to play. If they go out with the same attitude they had the first time, I agree with you, and there's nothing Benfica can do. But if Madrid's players realize they're playing for Real Madrid and react, then be careful because it's like touching a wounded lion's wound I don't recommend that reaction because they could win by a landslide, but I don't know what attitude the players will have.

In this match I see Real Madrid's chances of winning the match are much greater because the effectiveness of Benfica's attack should have been studied by the Real Madrid coach. The previous defeat was also inseparable from player fatigue because we saw that almost all Real Madrid players seemed to have lost their usual stamina in that match so they had a little difficulty. Real Madrid must be able to perform optimally in this match because winning is something important, especially as this team is known to have a much better mentality even though this season is a little different.

I think in football it's not all about that; there are other aspects we also need to consider, such as the mentality and self-confidence of Benfica's players, which increased drastically after their victory against Real Madrid in the previous match. On the other hand, Real Madrid is facing many problems, which cannot be denied. 
Personally, I have doubts about Real Madrid because their coach does not have sufficient experience, especially in the knockout stages of the Champions League, and that will have a significant impact.

He may have played in many Champions League matches as a footballer, but managing a team in the Champions League is a completely different and more challenging experience. Therefore, they are at a slight disadvantage against Benfica because Jose Mourinho is a much more experienced coach who knows how to manage a team and make tactical changes during the match. If Real Madrid suffers a major surprise and is eliminated in this round, it could be the end for manager Alvaro Arbeloa.

[MArsland]

He may have played in many Champions League matches as a footballer, but managing a team in the Champions League is a completely different and more challenging experience. Therefore, they are at a slight disadvantage against Benfica because Jose Mourinho is a much more experienced coach who knows how to manage a team and make tactical changes during the match. If Real Madrid suffers a major surprise and is eliminated in this round, it could be the end for manager Alvaro Arbeloa.

Isn't Alvaro Arbeloa status not yet permanent? So I wouldn't be surprised if his career is short lived, despite his performances at Real Madrid, and he'll back at Castilla. Managing a club as big as Real Madrid requires a coach with experience in all European competitions and understands how to manage star players with inflated egos.

[Abdulzuruku01]

I completely agree with you. Real Madrid is a team that should be the favorite to win the Champions League every year but with their current performance they are not.

Of course young players should be given the opportunity to gain experience, train and develop but they need at least one leading, very experienced and reliable defensive player to guide them and in my opinion even Rüdiger is not sufficient for this position. They need someone like Ramos but there aren't many players like that around these days.

Real Madrid has world-class players who are capable of winning them the Champions League, but I don't think their mentality will get them there. The way they treated young players by not giving them opportunities is also bad. Look at how Endrick is happy in Lyon he's the one leading that team now because of his good performance and I believe the experience behind his success, he got it from Real Madrid.

If Madrid were the ones who built Lamine Yamal, he would have been in a different club now. Barcelona has trust in young players look at Cubarsi handling their center back with the experience gained from last season with Inigo Martinez, I don't think Barcelona has any perfect player currently that will handle that position like him. Real Madrid should learn to appreciate young players and give them opportunities to gain experience.

[Black Mbaye]

He may have played in many Champions League matches as a footballer, but managing a team in the Champions League is a completely different and more challenging experience. Therefore, they are at a slight disadvantage against Benfica because Jose Mourinho is a much more experienced coach who knows how to manage a team and make tactical changes during the match. If Real Madrid suffers a major surprise and is eliminated in this round, it could be the end for manager Alvaro Arbeloa.

Isn't Alvaro Arbeloa status not yet permanent? So I wouldn't be surprised if his career is short lived, despite his performances at Real Madrid, and he'll back at Castilla. Managing a club as big as Real Madrid requires a coach with experience in all European competitions and understands how to manage star players with inflated egos.

As far as I know, a long-term contract hasn't been signed. In June, Arbeloa was managing Castilla. Now, suddenly, he finds himself in charge of Real Madrid. What happens next depends on the team's performance. If they achieve success under his management, Real Madrid will probably sign a new contract in the summer. However, a failure in the Champions League would be enough reason to dismiss him, because Florentino Perez is a very ambitious president when it comes to success.

[Not your key not your BTC]

Dortmund in my own prediction will win the game against the Atalanta guys because even though both clubs are seen almost at the same performance level, Borrusia Dortmund seem to have more leverage than the Atalanta team though this should not be any serious information to work with because every club has its own separate domestic league and what’s influencing the position both teams at their domestic side could be entirely different so you can’t judge completely from such indiccstors

I also predict that Dortmund can beat Atalanta and advance to the Champions League knockout stage. In their respective domestic leagues, Dortmund's performance is much better than Atalanta's, as they are competing with Bayern Munich for the title. Meanwhile, Atalanta's performance is inconsistent and they are in seventh place in the Italian league standings. Furthermore, Atalanta has never beaten Dortmund in their head-to-head matches. Predictions aren't always accurate, but at least by looking at the statistics, we can determine who has the best chance of winning and advancing to the Champions League knockout stage.

[Silence Scream]

Dortmund in my own prediction will win the game against the Atalanta guys because even though both clubs are seen almost at the same performance level, Borrusia Dortmund seem to have more leverage than the Atalanta team though this should not be any serious information to work with because every club has its own separate domestic league and what’s influencing the position both teams at their domestic side could be entirely different so you can’t judge completely from such indiccstors

I also predict that Dortmund can beat Atalanta and advance to the Champions League knockout stage. In their respective domestic leagues, Dortmund's performance is much better than Atalanta's, as they are competing with Bayern Munich for the title. Meanwhile, Atalanta's performance is inconsistent and they are in seventh place in the Italian league standings. Furthermore, Atalanta has never beaten Dortmund in their head-to-head matches. Predictions aren't always accurate, but at least by looking at the statistics, we can determine who has the best chance of winning and advancing to the Champions League knockout stage.

Atalanta has a lot of surprising results in Italy. In some matches they get great wins despite not being the favorites, while in others they lose even when they are the favorites. I can also say they've had a good run in the Champions League this year. Dortmund is doing very well in the Bundesliga right now, and in my opinion, they are the favorites in this tie, but Atalanta's chances of progressing are not insignificant either. It's almost 50/50.