for Real Madrid it is likely that they will also have the same fate as Barcelona because losing Benzema is one of the difficulties for Madrid to be able to appear stronger as before and until now they have not found a replacement for Benzema and even have to wait for surprise news from Mbappe. and for Man City they still have a chance in the upcoming UCL season but at the start of the season Man City was a little inconsistent in the EPL and their main player Haaland also experienced a change in his performance. I think Guardiola will work hard to improve his players again to be able to lift the UCL trophy again.
Actually, there is nothing to worry about Karim Benzema leaving because Jude Bellingham has at least shown good things about Real Madrid's development so far or at least in several matches in Laliga Real Madrid has shown quite impressive things.
Jude Bellingham may not be like Benzema with a lot of experience in the Champions League but he also played in the Champions League while still with Borussia Dortmund, so this will give the young player enough confidence to put on a good show when the Champions League starts.
Real Madrid will again be the favorites even though not as big as Manchester City because City are the defending champions and they have indeed become one of the strongest teams in the world today.
But it seems we can't forget the others because there is still Liverpool and Bayern Munich and also Barcelona, although they are still quite doubtful, especially Barcelona, which is still struggling with financial problems so there is not much they can do in the transfer market this season, but Xavi Hernandez who has managed to bring Barcelona back will also try to make this team good in this big tournament.
TBH, Im not too brave to make a decision whether Real Madrid will appear strong to compete with Man City even though Bellingham performance is very good at the moment and there are even several other strong teams like Bayern Munich who currently have star players there. so this season UCL competition will be a bit tougher in terms of competition between the top teams.
we all still hope that our favorite team can still get UCL trophy this season but for me it will be less hopeful because even though I am a Real Madrid fan I just want this team to qualify for the final even though I do not know if Bellingham will always be able to performing well but hope is always there to give fire and confidence to Real Madrid.