Real Madrid won their first game of the UEFA Champions League season, beating Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart 3-1 at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu on Tuesday night. It was no picnic for Los Blancos. A first-half penalty was cancelled out by VAR and they had to wait 21 seconds in the second half for Kylian Mbappé to equalise on the counterattack after good work from Rodrygo Goes. Deniz Undav equalised with a header from a corner in the 68th minute but Real Madrid kept firing. Antonio Rüdiger put the team ahead again in the 83rd minute from another corner and Endrick Felipe scored in injury time to spark a huge party.

Three answers

1. Is Éder Militão really fit? And if not, how will he be replaced?

Éder Militão missed training on Monday and was seen limping and straining the knee he recently injured in the weekend’s win over Real Sociedad. Carlo Ancelotti played down any concerns, saying Militão was fine and just needed a little longer to recover, but ultimately decided to leave the Brazilian out of his lineup. After a disastrous first half defensively, Ancelotti decided to take a risk and bring the Brazilian on. It took just seconds for the game to turn and Kylian Mbappé to score the first goal. Militão didn’t look as relaxed as usual, but he seemed to move around fairly freely and showed none of the discomfort he hinted at in San Sebastián. Despite being only half-fit, he was a more natural choice in central defence than Dani Carvajal, who was a bit of a stumbling block in his position. The risk is that Ancelotti cannot rely on Militão as much, especially if he is not fully fit. Is Jesús Vallejo in such poor shape that he is out of the question? And if so, why is he still at the club?

2. Would the new Champions League format change anything?

To some extent, yes. This was only the first game in the new system, but there were already signs that this new format would be somewhat different. The league system meant that a draw at home would be damaging, regardless of the opponent. While a draw in a group stage format might mean a tougher battle, it would not limit progress. The same applies here, but a draw in the league format could mean an increased chance of an extra play-off round. As Carlo Ancelotti has pointed out this week alone, the fewer games Real Madrid have to play, the better. That seemed to influence team selection. Would Jude Bellingham or Aurelién Tchouameni have been risked as regulars after injuries? Would Militão have been substituted at half-time? The desire to keep pushing for the win and not sit back after scoring to make it 2-1 reflected that.

3. How would Jude Bellingham integrate back into the team and the front three?

If anyone expected Carlo Ancelotti to change his system, they were wrong. The imbalance in defence had no effect on the team’s attacking formation and we saw a repeat of the three-man front that had morphed into a four-man front earlier in the season, with Bellingham on the left side of midfield and moving forward to join the front line of attack when needed. In the first half, this did not help the defensive problems the team was struggling with. Fede Valverde was very limited and had to drop wide to the right to provide extra support and Aurelién Tchouameni often had to drop back into a back three while Bellingham looked to counter quickly on the left. This resulted in an unbalanced midfield with very little presence in the middle and gave Stuttgart a chance to dominate.

Three questions

1. Are Kylian Mbappé’s nerves broken?

Kylian Mbappé scored his first Champions League goal in a Real Madrid shirt when he opened the scoring early in the second half. However, it was just one of five shots and a total of 1.29 xG. While Stuttgart may not have been the big event at home, Mbappé seemed aware of the importance of the game. The Frenchman seemed to take chances and sometimes hesitated when he had the ball in the final third. At Paris Saint-Germain and with his national team, he looked much more confident with the ball.

2. Is there a better goalkeeper in the world than Thibaut Courtois?

With almost any other goalkeeper between the posts, Real Madrid simply would not have been in the game by the time they took the lead. He made four saves in the first 30 minutes alone and six in the 90 minutes in total, with those saves giving him 1.44 xGOT. The Belgian has shown his ability and the fact that he is simply world class, and in the first 45 minutes of this game he seemed to be the only one alert and at his best to keep Stuttgart at bay.

3. Is Luka Modrić a solution in midfield?

The biggest influence of all the players on the bench was experienced midfielder Luka Modrić. His expert cross from a corner onto Antonio Rüdiger’s head helped, of course, but he also gave Real Madrid some control of the ball. He played alongside Fede Valverde and Bellingham, who was later replaced by Arda Güler in the midfield block when the Englishman was substituted in the 80th minute. At times he took on the central role of organiser and dictated the tempo, while out of possession he allowed Valverde to move into the middle as a destroyer while moving left himself. He created a chance from open play and provided the assist for Rüdiger’s winner, while also trying to slow the tempo and maintain control. That experience and composure in the closing stages of the game was crucial.