The Champions League returns with a new format and the champion enters the scene 108 days after everyone Madridism celebrated the conquest of the Decimoquinta at Wembley. Stuttgart, which he has never faced in European competition, will be his first opponent in this phase of the tournament. Ancelotti’s men want to start in the best possible way at the Santiago Bernabéu on the road to the Decimosexta.
Real Madrid will begin their 55th participation in the European Cup in our stadium. They are the club that has taken part in the most editions of the competition. Tonight, the aim is to give continuity to the good start to the season. In fact, our team has already won a title, the European Super Cupand remains undefeated in six games played to date (four wins), having walked in each of them.
The new competition format
This will be the first of eight games that our team will play in this first phase of the new competition format. They will play four at home (Stuttgart, Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan and Salzburg) and four away (Lille, Liverpool, Atalanta and Brest).
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In this first phase, which will take place from September 17 to January 29, the 36 teams will share the same ranking, with the top eight in the ranking qualifying directly for the round of 16. The teams ranked between 9th and 24th will play an intermediate round, equivalent to a round of 16 home and away. The rest of the teams will be eliminated, without the possibility of being transferred to the Europa League. From the round of 16 onwards, the format will resume its traditional form until the final, which for this edition will take place on May 31, 2025 in Munich.
The players called up
“We are ready for start the Champions League with a win“, Ancelotti said in the pre-match press conference of the European champion. The Italian coach is recovering, among the players called upBellingham and Tchouameni. Mbappé will also be there, having scored three goals in our team’s last two games.
Stuttgart’s strengths
The German team, who finished second in the Bundesliga, come into this match after winning last Saturday in Mönchengladbach (1-3) for their first victory in the league, in addition to a draw at home against Mainz (3-3) and a defeat in Freiburg (3-1). They will play their sixth match of the season at the Santiago Bernabéu, after also losing the German Super Cup in the penalty shootout (2-2) and crushing Preussen Munster (0-5) in the opening match of the Cup. Arriving from Augsburg, Ermedin Demirovic is their top scorer with four goals.
