Misfiring Madrid struggling to find European safety net

After beating the team 20th in the Premier League, Liverpool defeated the side 24th in the Champions League. The similarities may end there: it is scarcely a surprise Southampton occupy that station in England. But Real Madrid, the reigning champions of Europe, find themselves 24th after five rounds.

- RICHARD JOLLY

The position has a certain significance in a new format; they are hovering about the second dotted line. A side who began the competition as favourites, along with Manchester City, now instead risk the embarrassment of failing even to get the safety net of a play-off place. If Real initially thought their fixture list would not include a European double-header in February, now they must hope it does. The alternative is the embarrassment of crashing out of continental competition altogether.

A revamp that appeared designed to make sure the richest were too big to fail could now eject the biggest of them all. And if a tough trip to Atalanta could mean Real spend Christmas looking imperilled, January meetings with RB Salzburg and Brest might offer the partial salvation of a play-off place; that said, Real have already lost to Italian and French opposition before going down 2-0 to Salzburg boss Pep Lijnders’s former club, Liverpool. Under the old system, Real reached the knockout stages in 29 successive seasons. But then old certainties seem to have been destroyed recently.