**This is a fixture that obviously has a lot of history in this competition. What do you think the view is from Madrid ahead of the game?**
There is a lot of respect for Liverpool from the Real Madrid side, both for their incredible play on the pitch, but also for who they are off the pitch. There is no doubt this is circled as a massive game on the schedule. Ancelotti's men have made good progress in the last two matches, and there is a sense that this game, against one of the best teams in Europe, will be a good barometer of how real their progression really is.
**Ancelotti is well known in England, of course. How has his Real team been set up this season? What has been the style of play?**
This is a question that is difficult to answer, and that it is difficult to answer gives you a glimpse of how underwhelming the season has been. There has been no real identity. This is a team still trying to figure out how to navigate: 1) the post-Toni Kroos era; 2) the integration of Mbappe; 3) a frail defensive depth chart loaded with injuries.
Ancelotti has deployed a high line without a good press. Against Barcelona and Milan, back-to-back, the defence was exposed.
There has been progress in the past two matches versus Leganes and Osasuna. The tactical adjustment has been to defend by controlling the ball in the opponent's half while dialling back the press - focusing on solely counter-pressing when they lose the ball. This has led to good chances in front of goal while limiting the opponent to virtually zero clear-cut chances.
Of course, it'll be much more difficult to do that against Liverpool, so it will be interesting to see how the game unfolds.