Three talking points ahead of Real Madrid vs RB Salzburg | UEFA Champions League | OneFootball

The first UEFA Champions League clash of 2025 sees Real Madrid play host to RB Salzburg at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night, days after the team’s whopping win over Las Palmas.

Thomas Letsch’s men have not had the best of starts to their season and currently sit in fifth place in the Austrian league with seven wins and four defeats in 16 games.

Their luck in the UEFA Champions League has not been much better as they have won just one of their six games so far and lost all the remaining fixtures.

Given their poor form and Real Madrid’s home advantage, Carlo Ancelotti’s men are the favourites to take home the three points and earn a boost in the standings.

Madrid Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Real Madrid vs RB Salzburg.

A critical game for the standings

Real Madrid have played six of their eight UEFA Champions League group stage games so far and are far from where they would have liked to be on the standings.

A few hiccups along the way cost Los Blancos crucial points in the competitions and they currently sit on just nine points after six games.

With three wins and as many defeats in the competitions, Carlo Ancelotti’s men find themselves in 20th place on the league standings with just two rounds to go, and every win is worth its weight in gold at this point.

The new edition and format of the UEFA Champions League sees only the top eight teams qualify to the Round of 16 unopposed with the next 16 placed teams scheduled to play a knockout fixture over two legs to decide who progresses.

Considering the standings, qualifying through the top eight is virtually impossible for Los Blancos as it would require a number of results to go their way. They cannot avoid the extra round, but every win will count in giving them an easier route forward.

A higher finish on the standings will give Real Madrid a lower-ranked opposition and better odds with the scheduling of games and it is thus critical that the men in white try and finish between 8th and 16 on the standings.

Forced changes

Valverde at RB? (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)

As the clash against RB Salzburg nears, Carlo Ancelotti finds himself forced to make certain changes at the back that he would not have liked to alter given the choice.

After all, club captain Lucas Vazquez is out for the game through suspension after he collected three yellow cards in the competition. The men in white, thus, face a lacuna in a position where they have no direct replacement.

As revealed earlier today, Carlo Ancelotti tested out deploying Federico Valverde at right-back in training and appears set to give the Uruguayan a start in the defence tomorrow night.

Not having Valverde in the midfield will be a massive blow for Real Madrid given his goalscoring form in recent weeks, but it is likely the only option Ancelotti can trust on the night.

In central defence, he is likely to offer Raul Asencio a start alongside Antonio Rudiger with Aurelien Tchouameni set to start in midfield after an injury scare, especially given Valverde’s absence.

The third big decision Ancelotti must make tomorrow is over who joins the Frenchman in the middle of the field.

Jude Bellingham’s place is certain, but he must take a call between Arda Guler who has been good in his cameos and Dani Ceballos who has impressed in his last two starts for the team.

All eyes on the attack

Real Madrid’s win over Las Palmas was perhaps the team’s most enjoyable watch of the season so far as the men in white pounced in attack and barely gave their opposition any chance to get into the game.

Ancelotti’s men were simply ruthless in the final third, creating an xG of over 5 and racking up nine big chances.

Kylian Mbappe continued his stellar growth as he dished out a man-of-the-match performance with two goals, one disallowed goal and five key passes against Las Palmas.

His attacking output was only amplified by the displays of Rodrygo and Brahim Diaz, both of whom did not put a foot wrong in the final third.

The biggest goal for Real Madrid will be to keep their attacking momentum up and churn out as many goals as they can to instil confidence into the forwards.

Moreover, Vinicius Jr. will be available for selection, forcing Ancelotti into a decision as to which player to drop for the Brazilian.

If Mbappe and Vinicius can hit the ground running as partners tomorrow given their individual form of late, it will be a season-defining positive for the Merengues.