While they are still the reigning champions in not just Europe but the entire world following their FIFA Club World Cup triumph, Real Madrid arena t quite the best if Juventus legend Pavel Nedved is to be believed.
Madrid, who lie second in La Liga and are four points fierce rivals Barcelona, went on a stunning 22 match winning run earlier in the season, but have slowed down since the start of 2015. This has coincided with Barcaa s rise with Lionel Messi playing some spectacular football for the Catalans.
Nedved, a director at Juventus, analyzed the top team in Europe and said that both Bayern Munich and Barcelona are clearly ahead of Madrid at this point in time.
“It’s good [for Juve] to have avoided Barcelona and Bayern Munich, who are the best teams in Europe at the moment,” the former Ballon d’Or winner told El Mundo Deportivo.
Perhaps reflecting on Madrida s recent run of results that has seen the Los Blancos losing four and drawing one out of the last ten games, Nedved compared the Madrid of 2014 to this current side.
“Real Madrid are not at the level of last year. But everything can change very quickly.”
Madrid, however, have three relatively easy fixtures coming up as they will face only Granada Rayo Vallecano and Eibar, before they return to the Champions League.
In the Champions League, the Whites suffered a shock 4-3 defeat to Schalke at the Santiago Bernabeu in their last game, but courtesy of a 0-2 away win they still managed to get through. Next, Madrid take on city rivals Atletico Madrid in a repeat of last yeara s final.
Nedved then, changed focus onto Juventus who are given a relatively easy opponent in the quarterfinals – AS Monaco. Nevertheless, citing Monacoa s 1-3 away win against Arsenal in the round of 16, the former Ballon da Or winner said that Juve will need to be very careful when the take on the French side.
“Obviously there were more famous possible opponents we could have drawn, but we must not underestimate Monaco,” the Czech added.
“They went dangerously close to being knocked out at home, but they impressed me against Arsenal in London.”
Coached by Max Allegri, Juve are 14 points clear in the Serie A and are in the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia.