No team in history has dominated the Champions League like Real Madrid. They have won the competition on 14 occasions. And five of those have come over the past nine seasons. Nobody could have expected that in the modern game but that’s just how special Los Blancos are in Europe.
The previous campaign is the perfect example of this. Most people would argue that Real Madrid were outperformed by all of the teams that they faced in the knockout rounds – PSG, Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool. Yet when the final whistle blew, the only team standing tall was the one wearing royal white.
Real Madrid just know how to get the job done, even when they are not at their best and as a result, their chances of retaining the Champions League title this season cannot be counted out.
They have been placed in a group with Celtic, RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk. Carlo Ancelotti is not taking any of those teams lightly though. As reported by BBC, the Real Madrid manager said:
"“It’s not an easy group at all.“Celtic, first and foremost, are a strong side and we also have to respect RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk.“There can also be surprises in the group. Think about last year with Sheriff – anything can happen.”"
Real Madrid boss Ancelotti makes very honest Champions League confession
No game in the Champions League is ever really easy and no result is a foregone conclusion. Just like Ancelotti pointed out, the game against Sheriff last season is the perfect example of that.
Back then, things were looking slim for Real Madrid and most people believed that the team could reach the last 8 of the competition at best. But they did go on to win. And there is no reason that they cannot do it this time as well.
Yes, there are teams who are better than Real Madrid on paper and a number of them have a lot better squad depth as well. Football is a simple game though. You kick a ball around for 90 minutes and put it in the back of the opposition’s net as many times as possible. And very few teams do the simple stuff better than Los Blancos.