It was predicted from the start that this group phase would not be difficult for Real Madrid, because Napoli also experienced a fairly drastic decline in performance after they replaced the coach and the other two teams, Union Berlin and Braga, had quite a difference in quality below Real Madrid.
And for the knock out round, there is quite a lot to look forward to because currently many of Europe's top teams are starting to develop, making it possible for fierce competition to occur.
Real Madrid are still favorites, but I don't think it will be easy for them.
It is easy to make predictions in this group because there is no balance of opponents faced by Real Madrid. Napoli have not been in great form after replacing Spalletti with Rudin Garcia and they have even had a poor start to the season in Serie A. The other two teams are opponents whose quality is different from Real Madrid so they are quite favorites to come out as group winners. Even though many teams are currently showing big changes, Real Madrid must always perform well in every match and becoming group winners will make it a little easier for them to face the Knock Out match.
The knock-out round will definitely produce a team that is much better than the group phase and Real Madrid is again the favorite to qualify for that phase because their quality and experience have proven that they are always able to reach the semi-finals. So I'm still quite confident that they will reach the semi-finals of the Champions League this season even though the opponents they face are tougher.