I love it when you said this is not there best performance although they did well by beating salzburg despite that salzburg aren't their equals, I will also want to say that there's a kind of improvement in the team though it will also be too early for anyone to conclude, all the same congratulations to them on such deserving victory of theirs, yea xabi making use of the three defense yield fruit I think he has been able to figure out one the problem Real Madrid faced last season, if he continues like this, he will get things right, am waiting to see what happens when he face bigger teams next season, I can't conclude that Juventus will be a strong side for them in the next round as the will be meeting each other after all we all know the.current nature of Juventus although will wil see what happens then.
The performance of Real Madrid in this competition is somehow stable than how they performed last season. I feel it is because of the changes in defense and coach. Perhaps the presence of Arnold in the team has boost confidence in the defense. However, until the new season starts, I wont judge if they have improved or not in this competition. Time will tell, in the LaLiga and Champions League I will judge their strength if the team has been revived by Xabi Alonso or not.
However, in three matches we can judge that Real Madrid's game has changed and is better than last season when it was still the Ancelotti era. Under the guidance of Xabi Alanso, the game is more systematic, the game relies on teamwork and is full of creativity. Not always relying on counterattacks and relying on individual skills. If you pay attention, Vini is now not like last season, freely carrying the ball or trying to pass several players, he passes and opens up space more often.
In addition, if we look at Xabi Alanso so far he has been able to explore the talents of players better than Ancelotti. It seems that Arda in the Ancelotti era with Xabi are like two different players and what makes me even happier, Xabi wants to give more playing minutes to Castilla players and it turns out that Castilla players have the opportunity to break into the main squad. So with the decisions taken by Xabi and the philosophy he applies, I am optimistic that Real Madrid next season will be better and can compete in La Liga and the Champions League. In the Club World Cup, Real Madrid will face Juventus. Yes as you said, Juventus is in an unstable form so I will bet on Real Madrid to win in the last 16 match.