As the most successful club in the history of the competition and with a manager that's the most successful in the competition as well, I'm still very hopeful that Real Madrid will survive the group stages of the UEFA Champions League
Actually, this new format made me a little confused at first, the draw against the team is quite advantageous because there will be many teams that have the opportunity to enter the knockout phase. It seems that the luck of the draw also affects each team.
Real Madrid is an experienced team, I think the chances of qualifying are still very big. But their steps seem to be longer, maybe because they will go through the Play Off. With the new format and the number of injuries, it makes it even more difficult for them to get maximum points. But if they fail it will be a bad record for Real Madrid.
This new format forces them to face more strong teams compared to the old format. Usually in the old format, we will see them face 3 teams from which we can measure the strength of each team. While here we see them face 8 different teams, also in which there are 8 different strengths. In addition, they also have to compete directly with 35 other teams in the same standings, different from before which only competed with 3 teams. Maybe we also realize that there are more big matches in the Champions League this season with the new format, so a team must work even harder to ensure they can qualify for the next round.