Playing at home and facing a team that's not much better than them, they should be able to secure an easy win in this match. But if they fail to win, then they're in trouble. I've seen a lack of consistency from Real Madrid this season.
This match is a great opportunity for Real Madrid to secure their three points without any stress because i don't see the opponent as a challenge for them, to be honest I'm not really happy with the way Real Madrid are performing now, the way they started this season gave me a lot of confidence but now i am beginning to doubt my confidence if they will win this trophy. Currently barcelona have realized their mistakes and I think gradually they are working closely to correct it, so it is going to be a big Challenge for Real Madrid to win this trophy, but let see how it will all goes.
This is Xabi's first season, so he hasn't yet found the best strategy for himself. While he should have plenty of time, there are still obstacles. He also had success in his second season in the Champions League, so I think it's just a matter of time.
Xabi really have a lot of work to do because he got all what he needed succeed, i don't see anything that is liking now, he have the players he needed, he really have to put effort because this is what they saw with him when he was in Leverkusen. Xabi have to wake up to lift real madrid to their expectation.
Did you actually saw Xabi playing ? his mission in Real Madrid is to make this super egoistic team to actually play as a team and not only on individuals levels because this is not the style Real Madrid is looking for in 2025 and Xabi knows this , the boards knows this and the players also starting to realize this. All of this , puts absolutely no pressure on Xabi and even if he wins no trophies this year ...it's kinda normal as he has a really tough job with this current team of Real.