Few clubs in world football live under a spotlight as unforgiving as Real Madrid. Victory is expected, dominance is normalized, and failure—no matter the context—is magnified. That reality makes any elimination from the Copa del Rey a seismic event, but when it arrives unexpectedly and is followed by a public acceptance of blame from Álvaro Arbeloa, the story becomes about far more than a single match. It becomes a lens into Real Madrid’s identity, its development pipeline, and the standards that govern even those still learning the game. This was not simply a footballing defeat. It was a moment of institutional reflection. The Copa del Rey: Tradition, Pressure, and the Madrid Expectation The Copa del Rey has always occupied a unique place in Spanish football. While La Liga rewards consistency and the Champions League offers global prestige, the Copa represents heritage, unpredictability, and national pride. For Real Madrid, however, the competition has historically carried a complicat...
The Champions League began with a bang on Tuesday. Check out our five takeaways from Tuesday's action here.
Here are the top five things to watch out for as the action continues on Wednesday.
⚔️ Match of the day
Matchday one is definitely spoiling us, with the UEFA supercomputer throwing up a mouthwatering replay of Manchester City's 2023 final against Inter.Both are once again national champions heading into this game, with retribution on the Nerazzurri's mind after that heartbreaking tight loss in Istanbul.
City have won all four league games this season, while Simone Inzaghi's side has already dropped points twice, most recently against Monza.
Furthermore, Pep Guardiola's side has gone unbeaten in their past 23 games in the competition and would set an all-time European Cup/Champions League record (eclipsing Manchester United from September 2007 to May 2009) if they avoid defeat in their first three league games this season.
🔎 Team to watch.
Girona is not just one of two teams making their tournament debuts (going back to the European Cup era), but they are also competing in continental competition for the first time in their history.Málaga was the last Spanish team to debut in the competition 12 years ago, and they, together with Villarreal and Sevilla, ensured that each of the previous three LaLiga teams to debut reached the knockout stage in their first year.
However, the trek to the Parc des Princes will not be easy. Only one of the last 28 first-time Champions League visitors to Paris has won, and that was Manchester United's remarkable comeback in March 2019.
🔥 Player to watch.
Celtic broke their transfer record last month, signing Augsburg's dynamic midfielder Arne Engels.Within a week, the 21-year-old has earned his first Belgium cap - hardly an easy feat considering the strength of their choices in that area, but it demonstrates how highly he is regarded.
Engels shook off any qualms about his price tag with an outstanding performance and first goal last Saturday, but he was brought in for these big European nights.
Can he rise to the occasion and demonstrate his promise when the Bhoys host Slovan Bratislava?
Potential upset.
The oddsmakers have Shakhtar Donetsk as significant underdogs for their trip to Bologna on Wednesday, but should this be the case?They have been regulars in this competition for the past two decades (only six sides have appeared more since 2000), whilst the Felsinei are only competing in it for the second time, having previously done so in the European Cup in 1964, when they were eliminated in the preliminary stage.
This marks the greatest gap between appearances for any club in tournament history.
Danylo Sikan is a dangerous player, as evidenced by his four goals in six group stage games last season, and Shakhtar has done admirably to retain much-coveted important player Heorhiy Sudakov, who led his team in chances created and completed passes last year.
Bologna, on the other hand, has lost several key players who helped them reach the top four last season, including coach Thiago Motta, Joshua Zirkzee, and Riccardo Calafiori, while captain Lewis Ferguson is still injured, and they have yet to win a game this season, putting them in position for a surprise slip-up on their big night.
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