Though their odds of winning the Champions League would have taken a big hit on Tuesday, Jamie Carragher believes Real Madrid are still going to win the trophy.

Hosts Madrid lost 3-1 to AC Milan at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, which sees them down in 17th position in the new expanded 36-team Champions League format.

Only the top eight teams qualify for the knockout stages of the competition, and now the record 15-time winners and defending champions face an uphill battle to progress to the last eight.

Madrid are also lagging behind on the La Liga table as it stands, as Barcelona set the pace. Barcelona top the table on 33 points from 12 games, a whopping 11 points ahead of Madrid who have one game in hand.

Poor start

In fact, Real’s fierce rivals Atletico Madrid are nipping at their heels at one point behind after 12 matches.

The former Liverpool player Carragher said on The Overlap’s fan debate: “You know what Real Madrid are going to do with this new Champions League format, they’re going to sneak through that qualifying round by the skin of their teeth and then they’ll end up going on to win it all. What a club.”

“It’s funny with Real Madrid – obviously they’re not in the top eight at the moment,” he explained. “And the next two games are AC Milan and Liverpool. Let’s say we (Liverpool) beat them at Anfield and they get a draw with AC Milan; you’re in a situation where Real Madrid have got three games to go and the table’s moving.”

@Golfhackno1

IOL Sport

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