Will Real Madrid win the Champions League this season?
Real Madrid are one of the Europe’s top football clubs and have won the European Cup a record ten times. Los Blancos currently sit at the top of the La Liga table while they also earned a devastating 4-0 victory over Shakthar Donetsk in their opening Champions League fixture of the 2015-16 campaign.
At the end of last season, Real sacked Carlo Ancelotti and appointed former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez as their new manager. Since arriving at the club, Benitez has settled immediately and Madrid are playing some excellent football. The Spaniard has slightly tweaked Real’s formation and three-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo has prospered, netting eight goals in their last four matches – including a hat-trick and a five-goal haul against Shakthar and Espanyol.
Meanwhile, Real’s other attacking options are beginning to shine as well. Karim Benzema netted a double in their hard-fought victory over Athletic Bilbao while James Rodriguez appears to be back to full fitness and form after suffering a serious injury last season. Gareth Bale, on the other hand, was in brilliant form for both club and country but picked up a minor calf injury that has seen him side-lined in recent weeks.
Defensively, Madrid seem to have improved this season and they are no longer conceding goals as they did under Ancelotti. In fact, Coral are now pricing Madrid at EVS to go on and win the title, mainly thanks to their incredible defensive efforts. The likes of Sergio Ramos and Pepe are commanding, solid and reliable while Real’s full-backs are as useful as ever on both sides of the ball. Although they were unsuccessful in their bid to sign Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea, Real have been solid defensively and have conceded just one goal in all competitions so far this campaign.
There are a number of other candidates for the Champions League this season, with Bayern Munich and Barcelona their main rivals for Europe’s elite club competition. Pep Guardiola’s side are, as expected, cruising in the Bundesliga while Barcelona have impressed but have suffered two crushing defeats to Athletic Bilbao in the UEFA Super Cup and Celta Vigo in their most recent La Liga fixture.
It will be a long, gruelling European campaign but Real will stand a great chance of success once again as long as they don’t lose Cristiano Ronaldo to a long-term injury. While they can deal with losing the likes of James, Bale and Benzema for longer spells, a serious injury to Ronaldo would be detrimental to their aspirations.
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