yes but you are only talking about Spanish teams, remember that Europe is big and that the big teams are not always the best or win the most, there are many teams that are growing in Europe, think that Leverkusen or Atalanta are not they can reach the champion's quarterfinals, well the answer for me is definitely yes considering that even teams like Bologna can do really badly I would be very careful about Italy this year too, we'll see some good ones that's for sure
The Spanish team is still dominating the UCL. Europe is not a major deal for the Spanish squad ; if not, Real Madrid would not have won 15 UCL trophies. Many clubs are growing together; nonetheless, Real Madrid continues to dominate the UCL. I believe Real Madrid can still maintain its dominance.
After signing Mbappe as a new attacker, Madrid now lacks a worthy opponent in UCL;as a result, real madrid will still dominate UCL, it has biggest probability to defend UCL trophy they won last season.
It's definitely true, atalanta and leverkusen can reach quarter final; However, the competition is getting tougher with the implementation of the new format of UCL. In fact, competing in UCL is far tougher compared to the europa league, and these clubs(atalanta/leverkusen) will have tougher opponents. Ultimately, to reach the quarter final, they shall have worked even harder.
That's the point, maybe @Sg4j1n3ll0 lost focus a bit. I will not rule out Atalanta and Leverkusen but the fact is that for these two teams it is too early to easily conquer the UCL next season as a whole. I'm not underestimating this team, but when we talk about UCL, everyone knows that mentality and experience are the keys for every team to be able to survive in the biggest competition. Real Madrid is a reflection of 2 important factors and like it or not, 15 trophies make other clubs admit that nothing can surpass Madrid's UCL trophy for the next 10 years or even more.
I also like Leverkusen especially after their unbeaten record this season has proven that they are worthy. However, being faced with Atalanta indicates that Leverkusen still needs to learn a lot. At UCL, holding an unbeaten record is not enough, there are many factors that must be had, at least long flying experience that can be used as the main capital.