UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Season

[Ale88]

Mbappe will surely break Ronaldo's record of 17 champions league goals in a single season because his goal scoring techniques this season is second to none. Is it about the braces he has scored against Marseille, Monaco and Benfica, the hattrick against Kairat Almaty, and the 4 goals he scored against Olympiakos. He is just a genius that is playing at one of the best teams in Europe so he can even reach 18 goals in their next 2 Champions League games if he can score a brace in one of the matches and a hattrick in another match.

Now it is not difficult to break Ronaldo record as the top scorer in the UCL competition for each season, maybe even at the beginning of the UCL phase it can be broken, that's because the UCL format is now different from before, now there are more matches that allow Mbappe or anyone to score as many goals as possible, it is not even difficult to score more than 20 goals if a team's performance is at its best.

Anyway I don't think it's fair to compare records among different Champions League formats: in Ronaldo's case the group stage consisted of 4 teams, and usually two were very good, one was average and then a weak team. For example the season he scored 17 goals in 11 matches he played against PSG, Shakhtar Donetsk and Malmö. Then there was Roma, a surprising Wolfsburg, Manchester City and Atlético Madrid in the final. And there were less matches in total. Now, in the current campaign, if Real Madrid reaches the Round of 16, they will have already played 10 games, with that round it's going to be 12. If they reach the final is 19 matches. It's a huge number. Of course Mbappé can beat Ronaldo's record but, in my opinion, they wouldn't have the same meaning. Scoring 17 goals in 11 matches it's just insane.

[Xcode7]

Real Madrid is confident enough to survive this little problem with a very high probability, but the truth is if they fail, I ask myself how far the criticism will go? They sacked Alonso only to get a coach who is not on the level of Alonso. That was a weird decision, but since it is Real Madrid, they get judged by results. They can only hope that Benfica won't rule them out.

I'm not so confident about Real Madrid this season because the team is indeed experiencing a slight decline and even a change in coach could cause some problems. During the Ancelotti era we saw Real Madrid possess the ability to make changes even when the team is in decline, but this season Real Madrid has lost that. The problem isn't just individual prowess it's far more problematic for this team as it lacks leadership. Real Madrid is not a team that relies on one player previously, all players contributed to their achievements.

I think many people's doubts about Real Madrid are quite reasonable because with the problems they are currently experiencing, there is no good chance for Real Madrid to be able to compete in the Champions League competition this season. So it is indeed appropriate for us to forget about Real Madrid at this time for the title race this season even though Real Madrid is the king of the Champions League, but we also have to be realistic.

[jostorres]

Having Mbappe on the team means they have a player who can make a difference and contribute significantly to the team. I agree that Mbappe is the best striker in the world right now. Even though Real Madrid is experiencing a decline in performance, Mbappe is still consistently scoring goals and bringing victory to El Real. Besides his speed, what makes me admire Mbappe is his excellent work ethic and discipline. Perhaps because he idolizes Cristiano Ronaldo. Mbappe also has a good attitude and is mature enough to be a role model for other athletes. I think the match against Benfica will be a victory for Real Madrid. Even though they lost in the previous match, I am sure Real Madrid will learn from their mistakes, and it seems Arbeloa has been able to adapt to the Real Madrid players.

Sad thing for Mbappe is that dude keeps on scoring and getting them wins and the moment they lose everyone acts like it's his problem. I do not get why they do this, I haven o idea why this is a problem and I do not get why they end up thinking this could be a smart way to move with this.

You have to understand, this isn't the way to go because Mbappe will say "enough is enough" one day and leave for another team and that will not be good for Real Madrid. So they should cherish him because he is their best player.

[Nightwatchmare]

For the first leg, my only hope is that if Madrid do lose, the aggregate deficit won't be too big. As long as the gap is manageable, they still have a solid chance to make a comeback in the second leg and eliminate Benfica.

It is no coincidence that i would dare to say that whoever coaches Real Madrid truly has a huge responsibility and i would not want to be in his place at this difficult time for the Blancos team.
I is confident that things can really get better, but this season seems to be doomed.

Sincerely, I don’t like the pressure Real Madrid is always putting on their coach. A lot of coaches cannot handle that pressure and when you put a coach in that condition, he will not perform better and the fact that Real Madrid players are all big players. They don’t even respect their coach is a very big problem, but it is left for them if they decide to disrespect their coach and not follow the instruction of their coach, they will keep losing and it will affect their career, Real Madrid should allow the coach to have a pretty space. The former coach was a very good option, but because of the pressure they were putting on him that was why everything ended the way it ended.
They will not lift any trophy this season, that’s for sure.

What you should understand about Real Madrid football club is that they put any of their coaches that is not doing well in pressure, so any coach that knows that he cannot handle pressure should not sign a deal with Real Madrid because he will surely be under pressure if he is not doing what he was signed to do. No player is bigger than his coach or club, so if there are some players in Real Madrid that are not respecting their coach and not doing what the coach ask them to do, the coach has the right to put those players on the bench so that they can learn their lessons, and if Real Madrid management is interfering in the case, the coach should open up to the public so that people will know what is happening in the dressing room of Real Madrid.

[$weetne$$]

I think many people's doubts about Real Madrid are quite reasonable because with the problems they are currently experiencing, there is no good chance for Real Madrid to be able to compete in the Champions League competition this season. So it is indeed appropriate for us to forget about Real Madrid at this time for the title race this season even though Real Madrid is the king of the Champions League, but we also have to be realistic.

Ordinarily most persons would say due to experience, they would make Rwal Madrid their favourite to win the Champions League this season but it is very obvious looking at their performance in the champions league and how they struggle in their domestic league, it is fine to not trust them this season so you do not get disappointed when they fail to win the Champions League, but if they are able to scale through their current stage, the chances are high they will make it far in tha champions league because they will be boosted in their morale to improve better.

[SquallLeonhart]

As long as Mbappe stays at Real Madrid, even if it is not this year (could still be this year) there will be a year when he wins UCL with Real Madrid. It doesn't take Real Madrid to fix itself and be a good team, while they looked not that great last year, and not so great this year, they won 15 + titles so far and that is the reason why everyone believes they will recover and be better again.

Sure right now things are not looking great, and with Arbeloa they do not look like UCL winners, but it may still happen, they just need time and eventually they will do a fine job. We just need to give them some time, like I said it could be even this year if they play well, but probably not going to happen, but in a few years they will for sure.

[Pandu Geddon]

As long as Mbappe stays at Real Madrid, even if it is not this year (could still be this year) there will be a year when he wins UCL with Real Madrid. It doesn't take Real Madrid to fix itself and be a good team, while they looked not that great last year, and not so great this year, they won 15 + titles so far and that is the reason why everyone believes they will recover and be better again.

Sure right now things are not looking great, and with Arbeloa they do not look like UCL winners, but it may still happen, they just need time and eventually they will do a fine job. We just need to give them some time, like I said it could be even this year if they play well, but probably not going to happen, but in a few years they will for sure.

Madrid is not experiencing financial problems. It shouldn't take long to get this team back to the performance that makes their opponents afraid because there is no chance of winning. They need to identify the most serious problems in the team and fix them. They can overcome this situation, I'm sure of that, they will get better soon. I don't think of one player making Madrid extraordinary; we've always seen Madrid as a team with players who play well in every line.

[Catenaccio]

As long as Mbappe stays at Real Madrid, even if it is not this year (could still be this year) there will be a year when he wins UCL with Real Madrid. It doesn't take Real Madrid to fix itself and be a good team, while they looked not that great last year, and not so great this year, they won 15 + titles so far and that is the reason why everyone believes they will recover and be better again.

Real Madrid aimed at Mbappe in many seasons and finally they got him since two summers ago but it's ridiculously that after having Mbappe, their club performances seem to become worse. They lost in all competitions last season and in this season, things have been not actually too good with a second position in La Liga and have to play two play off matches with Benfica.

Especially with a young coach with not yet verified quality like Arbeloa, Real Madrid will play remaining matches in this season under a lot of doubt, pressure and uncertainty. Chance for Arbeloa making history with Real Madrid is not too high and I really don't think Arbeloa is a good replacement on Xabi Alonso. In my opinion, it would have been better for Real Madrid if they had not sacked Xabi Alonso.

Madrid is not experiencing financial problems. It shouldn't take long to get this team back to the performance that makes their opponents afraid because there is no chance of winning. They need to identify the most serious problems in the team and fix them. They can overcome this situation, I'm sure of that, they will get better soon. I don't think of one player making Madrid extraordinary; we've always seen Madrid as a team with players who play well in every line.

Perez managed Real Madrid very well in years and generally Real Madrid have better financial management than Barcelona as they have been more wisely and carefully with spendings than Barcelona. It's their advantage but everything can be changed quickly in football, with several failed seasons in big competitions, a club finance can be affected a lot even they don't gamble with too big loan for player transfers. Real Madrid is similar to all other big clubs truly need to gain enough good results season by season, winning titles, going far in UEFA Champions League in order to maintain their healthy and positive revenue, otherwise their club finance will become worse with time.

[abhiseshakana]

I think many people's doubts about Real Madrid are quite reasonable because with the problems they are currently experiencing, there is no good chance for Real Madrid to be able to compete in the Champions League competition this season. So it is indeed appropriate for us to forget about Real Madrid at this time for the title race this season even though Real Madrid is the king of the Champions League, but we also have to be realistic.

Ordinarily most persons would say due to experience, they would make Rwal Madrid their favourite to win the Champions League this season but it is very obvious looking at their performance in the champions league and how they struggle in their domestic league, it is fine to not trust them this season so you do not get disappointed when they fail to win the Champions League, but if they are able to scale through their current stage, the chances are high they will make it far in tha champions league because they will be boosted in their morale to improve better.

At first, I was quite convinced that Real Madrid would achieve greatness this  season because they looked so promising when Xabi Alonso joined them , but now doubts are creeping in, especially since Xabi Alonso is no longer with them, so I'm not quite sure that Arbeloa will be able to handle the stars at the Bernabeu.

It's definitely not easy to  manage a team as big as Real Madrid because the pressure is  immense. It's not just facing high expectations from everyone, but it also  requires some compromise with the surrounding circumstances. There are  definitely a lot of players with big egos, and some of them can be annoying, and I don't think all coaches can handle that. We'll just have to wait and see  if Arbeloa can knock Benfica out of the way, because if they lose and get  knocked out of the Champions League, he might not be safe either.

[Sim_card]

Madrid is not experiencing financial problems. It shouldn't take long to get this team back to the performance that makes their opponents afraid because there is no chance of winning. They need to identify the most serious problems in the team and fix them. They can overcome this situation, I'm sure of that, they will get better soon. I don't think of one player making Madrid extraordinary; we've always seen Madrid as a team with players who play well in every line.

Of course, Real Madrid will bounce back soon. I believe that Arbeloa knows what he's doing and with time, he will fix the team. Team work is better than depending on one player which is the main reason why Real Madrid do buy the best players on every position. I don't know what's their fate this season in UCL.

[Swordsoffreedom]

Madrid is not experiencing financial problems. It shouldn't take long to get this team back to the performance that makes their opponents afraid because there is no chance of winning. They need to identify the most serious problems in the team and fix them. They can overcome this situation, I'm sure of that, they will get better soon. I don't think of one player making Madrid extraordinary; we've always seen Madrid as a team with players who play well in every line.

Of course, Real Madrid will bounce back soon. I believe that Arbeloa knows what he's doing and with time, he will fix the team. Team work is better than depending on one player which is the main reason why Real Madrid do buy the best players on every position. I don't know what's their fate this season in UCL.

Arbeloa is unwise to rely too much on. And it doesn't look like Madrid will be able to perform very well with Arbeloa. Madrid's performance is still not strong. More importantly, Arbeloa has very little experience. A star-studded squad like Madrid requires an experienced manager. Madrid may be able to perform well in some matches with Arbeloa , but it is difficult for them to do well in the long run. So Madrid management should find an experienced manager as soon as possible.

[fuguebtc]

Madrid is not experiencing financial problems. It shouldn't take long to get this team back to the performance that makes their opponents afraid because there is no chance of winning. They need to identify the most serious problems in the team and fix them. They can overcome this situation, I'm sure of that, they will get better soon. I don't think of one player making Madrid extraordinary; we've always seen Madrid as a team with players who play well in every line.

Real Madrid's squad is very strong. I still consider Madrid to be the strongest squad in La Liga. But even then their performance is very inconsistent. And the main reason for this is the lack of strong bonding between the players. The relationship between the players is also not good. At the same time, the manager Arbeloa has little experience. Madrid will not be able to return to their strong form until they find an experienced manager.

Everyone is waiting for the Benfica vs Madrid match. Benfica defeated Madrid 4-2 in the first round. Madrid's players are waiting for revenge.

[Sim_card]

Arbeloa is unwise to rely too much on. And it doesn't look like Madrid will be able to perform very well with Arbeloa. Madrid's performance is still not strong. More importantly, Arbeloa has very little experience. A star-studded squad like Madrid requires an experienced manager. Madrid may be able to perform well in some matches with Arbeloa , but it is difficult for them to do well in the long run. So Madrid management should find an experienced manager as soon as possible.

Yea, Arbeloa is not a coach that can move the team forward for long because he doesn't have the experience and tactics. However, Arbeloa might be lucky to win a trophy this season if his men performs brilliantly in the rest of their matches. Real Madrid should work on replacing him after this season if they want to be winning trophies.

[Akbarkoe]

Benfica vs Real Madrid match will be coach vs coach. Both teams are very strong and favourites to win. Real Madrid has some problems in their attack line but Real Madrid is strong in terms of team strength. But their inexperienced manager was helpless against Benfica's experienced manager Mourinho in the last match. Mourinho now knows how he has to face Arbeloa and how to get the maximum output. On the other hand Arbeloa will have to study deeply to fight against Mourinho.

In fact, I see it in their defensive line which is not good, for the attack line there are Vini, Mbbape, Gonzalo Garcia, and don't forget there are also Arda Guler and Brahim Diaz who could be Madrid's willing options to make an attack on the front line but in the back line it is difficult now, they don't have defenders who are able to secure the defensive line well when there is a fast counter attack, sometimes they are easy to break through.
Seeing the previous match against Rayo which almost ended in a draw, at that time Arbeloa used a 4-4-2 formation which was less effective. Fortunately, they were able to get a penalty kick at the end of the second half which resulted in a goal, but then Arbeloa changed his formation when facing Valencia with 4-1-2-1-2, this looked more solid than before, Arbeloa's lack of experience was indeed an obstacle, especially when faced with Mourinho who was able to utilize his small strength to become like a big team.

[Lembo69]

Madrid is not experiencing financial problems. It shouldn't take long to get this team back to the performance that makes their opponents afraid because there is no chance of winning. They need to identify the most serious problems in the team and fix them. They can overcome this situation, I'm sure of that, they will get better soon. I don't think of one player making Madrid extraordinary; we've always seen Madrid as a team with players who play well in every line.

Real Madrid's squad is very strong. I still consider Madrid to be the strongest squad in La Liga. But even then their performance is very inconsistent. And the main reason for this is the lack of strong bonding between the players. The relationship between the players is also not good. At the same time, the manager Arbeloa has little experience. Madrid will not be able to return to their strong form until they find an experienced manager.

Everyone is waiting for the Benfica vs Madrid match. Benfica defeated Madrid 4-2 in the first round. Madrid's players are waiting for revenge.

I think the loss that Madrid suffered against Benfica is due to their negligence, because Benfica is not a stronger team than Madrid. Madrid is creating a bond of negligence among their players. If Madrid and Benfica play in the next match, Madrid will definitely beat Benfica. Madrid needs to make some changes. Madrid should give new players a chance, because when new players play in Madrid, they will try to do better. They will want to make a name for themselves, so they will try to play their best. Yes, you are right, their players do not have the bonding they used to have, if they had the bonding they used to have, they would have controlled both attack and defense well. But for some reason, I think they may not be happy with their new manager. Or there is something going on among them that is why they are not playing well. Who doesn't know that Madrid is a strong team, yet it's a bit surprising to see Madrid lose like this, the reason is that Madrid wasn't supposed to lose this match, yet they lost, Madrid will respond by winning against Benfica in the next match, and this match will be interesting.

[Finebone]

Yea, Arbeloa is not a coach that can move the team forward for long because he doesn't have the experience and tactics. However, Arbeloa might be lucky to win a trophy this season if his men performs brilliantly in the rest of their matches. Real Madrid should work on replacing him after this season if they want to be winning trophies.

If real madrid are thinking of replacing Arbeloa at the end of this season, they should try their best to go for someone that is experience and is a big name manager that the players at the club can respect and do whatever he wanted them to do, so that their wouldn't be a repeat of xabi Alonso's experience at the club in the future.
Because Arbeloa is just a yes man that is kept as the head coach of real madrid that is doing things to please the players and the board, and if real madrid really want to compete with the best, they have to go a more qualified coach to lead the team forward, not someone like Arbeloa that doesn't want to offend anybody.

[jakdanyel]

Real Madrid's squad is very strong. I still consider Madrid to be the strongest squad in La Liga. But even then their performance is very inconsistent. And the main reason for this is the lack of strong bonding between the players. The relationship between the players is also not good. At the same time, the manager Arbeloa has little experience. Madrid will not be able to return to their strong form until they find an experienced manager.

Everyone is waiting for the Benfica vs Madrid match. Benfica defeated Madrid 4-2 in the first round. Madrid's players are waiting for revenge.

The squad quality of Real Madrid is indeed the highest in the La Liga. Because Barcelona are playing with young talents mostly.

However we don't see its reflection on their performance every time as you said. Real Madrid are really unreliable this season. Perez shouldn't have preferred a manager change in the middle of the season.  

But at least they are strong enough to eliminate Benfica for now. I just can't predict them when they face a stronger opponent in further stages.

[m4r1o]

It will be a match that will prove whether Real Madrid deserves to continue in the Champions League, because 1 loss against Benfica may sound like bad luck for them, but if it happens again in this match, it will show that their loss against Benfica was due to Arbeloa's inability to outwit Mourinho's strategy and expose Madrid's weaknesses that Mourinho could actually see-- that would be a very embarrassing thing for Madrid.

I don't know if Real Madrid will make another mistake like last time when they made a big fool of themselves, but the Champions League is a serious thing and Real Madrid is always on the ball and has always shown that they can do it. It's clear that this team is doing everything they can to be strong and i think they will be able to be stronger than Benfica.

[Just Say]

Real Madrid should not lose the first leg, I think at this point Arbeloa should have study Mourinho tactics, they needs to improve more than they did in the last game where they conceded 4 goals at Benfica home ground. Even though Real Madrid faces difficult challenge in the first leg, the match should end in a draw, maybe they can lose by one goal, they should not concede much goals, since they will find it difficult to comeback in the second leg.

Mourinho will prepared his players for the next game, I believe Arbeloa also prepared his players to withstand the pressure from Benfica. Rodrygo will miss the both legs due to the red card he received in the last game, and I’m not sure if Bellingham will be ready for the game. I hope Vinicius and Mbappe gives the team the revenge in the next match’s to destroy them with a lot of goals.

The first leg will be very difficult for Real Madrid, if they can successfully overcome the first leg then maybe Real Madrid will have a chance to fight for a few more matches in the Champions League. If the gap in the first leg is 2 or more than two, then the second leg will also be very difficult for Real Madrid. The way Benfica was beating Real Madrid in the last match, we may see its reflection in the next match as well, because both matches will be played at their home ground. The match depends on the inexperienced Real Madrid coach Arbeloa, his far-sighted strategy will determine the gap in this match.

The first leg will be very difficult for Real Madrid because we are observing that Benfica is a team that is becoming increasingly difficult, if you watch their UEFA Champions League match before then you will definitely get the proof of this. In fact, Real Madrid could not show any experience in that match because in that crucial match of UCL, Madrid lost against Benfica by a coincidental score line of 4:2. So in that context we can say that the Spanish giants have a chance to take revenge in the upcoming Champions League first leg match and this match will be between the experienced Jose Mourinho and the inexperienced Arbeloa.

The main thing is that Arbeloa will have to study more deeply to reach the level of the Portuguese club manager and compete against him. However, I still think that La Liga giants Madrid are the favorites to win the upcoming Champions League match, as their manager Arbeloa is weak in experience, but this team has great depth.

[Minor Miner]

I don't know if Real Madrid will make another mistake like last time when they made a big fool of themselves, but the Champions League is a serious thing and Real Madrid is always on the ball and has always shown that they can do it. It's clear that this team is doing everything they can to be strong and i think they will be able to be stronger than Benfica.

Did any of us imagine that Madrid would lose 4-2 to Benfica in the last match of the first round? The match was very important for both teams. If Madrid won this match, they could have finished in the top 8 of the table and qualified for the round of 16. And Benfica needed to win this match to qualify for the play-offs.

Everyone will consider Madrid as the favorite in the play-offs, this is normal. They are experienced and strong. Even then, it will be difficult for Mourinho's Benfica to win. I think both matches will be competitive. But Madrid can qualify for the round of 16.