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Breaking down Real Madrid’s 23/24 Champions League group

By Maximus Polek

UEFA Champions League final ambassador and Former French footballer Mikael Silvestre holds the slip of Real Madrid during the draw for the 2022 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, semi-finals and final at the UEFA headquarters, in Nyon, on March 18, 2022. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP) (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)
UEFA Champions League final ambassador and Former French footballer Mikael Silvestre holds the slip of Real Madrid during the draw for the 2022 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, semi-finals and final at the UEFA headquarters, in Nyon, on March 18, 2022. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP) (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images) /
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With the group stage draw for the 2023/24 edition of the UEFA Champions League taking place on Thursday, this is a good time to take a look at how Real Madrid’s group turned out and breaking down the opposition that Los Blancos will be facing in the competition. Things could certainly get interesting.

Having been placed in Pot 2 this season, Los Blancos could have faced formidable challengers in the group stage like Bayern Munich and Manchester City. But to the relief of all Madridistas, that is not the case.

Italian champions Napoli are the team drawn from Pot 1 in Real Madrid’s group. They were an absolute machine last season in Serie A, winning the league title by a staggering 16-point margin. Gli Azzurri were also brilliant in the Champions League as well, getting past Eintracht Frankfurt 5-0 in the round of 16, before narrowly losing to AC Milan in the quarter-finals.

Napoli are no doubt the toughest opponent in Real Madrid’s group, and the matches are expected to be very close. However, the Italian club lost their main man in defence, Kim Min-jae, to Bayern Munich this summer. On the other hand, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia seems to be going through a dip in form as well. And of course, one cannot forget that they have a new manager in place, with Luciano Spalletti leaving after guiding them to the Serie A title.

Breaking down Real Madrid’s 23/24 Champions League group

The next team in Real Madrid’s group is Sporting de Braga of Portugal. They finished third in the Portuguese league last season and had to play through Champions League qualifiers to reach the group stage, defeating Panathinaikos to book their place in Europe’s elite competition.

The final team in Real Madrid’s group is Union Berlin of Germany. They have qualified for the Champions League for the first time in their history and are no doubt a team to watch for. They have proven to be a tough team to crack in the Bundesliga and their rise in recent times has been nothing short of extraordinary.

Overall though, Real Madrid should be very satisfied with the group they have been placed in. They are the favourites to top it.

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