Before, the camera used to pan to Cristiano and you believed, but now... Real Madrid vs Man City Ruben Jimenez gives his opinion

The scene was more common that seeing John Wayne in a cowboy hat. The players lined up as the Champions League anthem played and the camera passed down the line, poking into their faces, one by one. Finally, Cristiano Ronaldo appeared on the TV, with a look of determination, of confidence, on his face. He would look at you down the lens and you would believe. You'd leave your house keys, your car keys, your wallet and your pension with him. The comeback against Wolfsburg started there, before a ball had even been kicked.

In the current Real Madrid squad, there are no players who emit this confidence with just one look. And if there is one, he's injured. Eden Hazard is the only world-class, truly top player that this club has in its ranks now. Cristiano left and no one was signed to replace him and, after a failure of a season that saw two coaches come and go, only the Belgian arrived to fill the goalscoring void, leadership and personality that the Portuguese left behind.

Real Madrid broke their spending record last summer. And who did they sign? Other than Hazard, they spent a barbaric amount of money on Luka Jovic, who is almost an unknown; Eder Militao, who hasn't been on the pitch in recent memory; Rodrygo Goes, a good player who excited for a few weeks before disappearing off the charts; and Ferland Mendy, a good left-back who is a few years off being a left-back that Real Madrid can win with. They spent a fortune on players that boosted their numbers but that don't win trophies.

Lionel Messi has said that, with what Barcelona currently have in their squad, it's not enough to win the Champions League. But they have him. If he looks across at the team lining up against him on Sunday, he'll see a serious lack of goals. He'll see a Karim Benzema whose goals have dried up, a Vinicius Junior who looks bright until it comes to the final finish, an ageing Luka Modric and a Gareth Bale who is in between two dimensions.

Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling tore Real Madrid apart. Transfermarkt doesn't lie. Pep Guardiola has four players who are worth at least 100 million euros in this market. Sterling is worth 160m, De Bruyne is 150m. Only one player gets past that barrier at Real Madrid and he's spent most of the season injured. The second most valuable player is Raphael Varane. Trophies cost money. Real Madrid have wasted theirs. So, like Messi says, it's not enough to win the Champions League. It's not even enough to get past the last 16.