Early-season angst check: Do Madrid, Man United, Wrexham need to be worried?

With large spending and expectations comes angst. You marque a marquee move, but autumn down your biggest rival. You're utilized to winning each title, but the remainder of the league catches up. You're utilized to zooming done promotion pushes, but abruptly recognize everyone astir you is amended (and richer) than you. Your newfound riches bargain success, and past they don't. Your tally of large transportation signings ends, and you don't cognize why. Your league is told it does things the close way, but you autumn acold beneath your bigger-spending peers.

The offseason is either for angst oregon excitement, and for the 9 entities beneath -- 8 clubs and 1 league -- determination was much of the erstwhile than latter. With a fewer weeks gone successful 2025-26, let's cheque successful connected whether the angst is increasing oregon dissipating for the motley unit of Real Madrid, Manchester City, Manchester United, the Bundesliga, Wrexham, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Juventus and AC Milan.

Real Madrid

Reason for angst: Evolution is hard

Madrid signed Kylian Mbappé aft winning the UEFA Champions League, and past proceeded to faceplant by their standards, falling down Barcelona successful LaLiga and suffering a meek Champions League quarterfinal exit to Arsenal. Carlo Ancelotti near down a cranky squad with imaginable ego and incongruity issues.

From the embarrassing Ballon d'Or protest aboriginal successful the season, to the antiaircraft injuries, cluttered spacing and nonexistent pressing that pervaded throughout, thing truly worked for Real Madrid successful 2024-25. Perhaps not surprisingly, they responded with a beauteous large makeover: In came manager Xabi Alonso, halfway backmost Dean Huijsen, fullbacks Trent Alexander-Arnold and Álvaro Carreras and teen winger Franco Mastantuono. Out went veterans Luka Modric and Lucas Vázquez.

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