Can Real Madrid Complete Back-to-Back Champions League Triumphs?

Carlo Ancelotti made an immediate impact in his return to the Bernabeu, steering Spanish giants Real Madrid to both the La Liga and Champions League trophies in 2021-22, and now the Italian will look to repeat the feat this season.

The chances of Real Madrid once again sweeping aside the competition are quite slim but by no means impossible. However, most sportsbooks put the club way down the list when it comes to betting odds on securing the famous Champions League silverware this time around.

If you want to find out more about the best sportsbooks and see the pros and cons of the options out there, then this is where you can see more. Currently, Ancelotti’s men are listed at around fifth or sixth favorites with most bookies, and that seems harsh, to say the least.

Ancelotti is a born winner and has won big wherever he’s managed or played, and his side have started the current campaign in great fashion. They sit top of La Liga, having won four from four, and their first Champions League group game, a tricky trip to face Scottish champions Celtic, proved to be a walk in the park for Real Madrid.

Led by veteran midfielder Luka Modric, Real Madrid had a fairly uncomfortable first half at Celtic Park but eased into gear around the hour mark when first Brazilian Vinicius scored, then Modric doubled the lead and Eden Hazard then added the icing on the cake with a third to give the title holders a 3-0 win.

Obviously, the opposition is going to get trickier as the season wears on, but Real Madrid have a great spirit in the dressing room, and that’s down to the down-to-earth approach that Ancelotti adopts.

The former AC Milan, Chelsea, and PSG manager isn’t easily riled, but you get the impression that he won’t stand for diva behavior from his players, and that type of attitude gets you respect from the world’s best, and so it has proved in his brief tenure in charge of a club he previously represented between June 2013 and May 2015.

In his earlier spell, he led the club to a Champions League success and other less glittering prizes, and Ancelotti certainly knows how to get his sides performing at their best.

At AC Milan, he led the club to two Champions League wins and a Serie A title, and at Chelsea, he secured a domestic double, and at PSG, he won Ligue 1. In Germany, he did likewise; all in all, Ancelotti has won league titles in Italy, England, France, Germany, and Spain, and there are few managers in the game to have ever been as successful as the 63-year-old.

Over the summer, Real Madrid offloaded players who were a severe drain on their resources, with stars like Gareth Bale, Isco, Marcelo, Luka Jovic, and Casemiro all making exits. In came Antonio Rudiger from Chelsea and Aurelien Tchouameni from AS Monaco, and though you could argue Real Madrid don’t have great depth in their squad, it would be a decent bet to back the club to hold on to the titles they successful won last season.