3 In Defense: Is Carlo Ancelotti’s job on the line?

The Champions League marches on, and theScore’s trio of footy editors debate the key topics ahead of this week’s matches, which will determine who reaches the final of Europe’s premier competition. You better believe the takes are going to be hot.

With the league title essentially out of reach, the Champions League becomes Real Madrid’s only realistic chance at silverware this season. Does Carlo Ancelotti get the axe if they don’t beat Juventus and defend their title?

Gordon Brunt: It's hard to picture a scenario where Carlo Ancelotti gets sacked following an admittedly difficult season with Los Blancos. It would be unfair for the Italian boss not to be given another crack at it next season, with a chance to prove his side can compete with Barcelona for the title next season.

One would imagine that last year's Champions League triumph is also enough to secure his job another season beyond the current one, but with the mindset of pulling the trigger at the first sign of adversity dominating the football world, there's no telling what Florentino Perez will decide if Juventus eliminate Real Madrid on Wednesday.

Carlo Campo: Real Madrid are a club that breathe impatience, a club where anything less than the top of the La Liga table and comfort in the Champions League will trigger rumours regarding a manager's future.

However, back in March, president Florentino Perez came out publicly to insist that Carlo Ancelotti would continue as Real Madrid's manager regardless of what happened during the season. He also claimed in December that he would be "delighted" to offer Ancelotti a new contract at the end of season.

While anything that's said at the Santiago Bernabeu should be taken with a grain of salt, I'm inclined to trust Perez on this one, particularly given the lack of reports linking any other manager to the position. As a contrast, just look at the situation at Manchester City, where you can definitely get the vibe that Manuel Pellegrini's days are numbered.

Even if Real Madrid are bounced from the Champions League on Wednesday, it seems safe to say that Ancelotti will still be at the helm when the 2015-16 season kicks off.

Gianluca Nesci: Yes. For a team like Real Madrid, where winning - and doing so with style - is the only thing that halts the jeers from the home crowd, a season bereft of trophies would be nothing short of a disaster for Ancelotti; even after he delivered the vaunted Decima last year.

Put on your manager’s hat for a minute. Without Luka Modric and with Karim Benzema not fully fit, name your starting XI for Real Madrid on Wednesday?

Brunt: Casillas; Marcelo, Varane, Pepe, Carvajal; Ramos, Kroos, Rodriguez, Isco; Ronaldo, Bale

Although it's a carbon-copy of the squad that fell in Turin, there's no way this group of elite footballers struggles to find a goal like they did at Juventus Stadium.

Real Madrid will likely play with a sense of desperation that wasn't present during their loss to Valencia over the weekend and should transform into the potent attack that can devastate defenses.

It's hard to predict if the Sergio Ramos experiment will improve since last week's poor showing, but Real have alternative options at hand if the Spanish international proves ineffective in a midfield role.

Campo: Casillas; Carvajal, Pepe, Varane, Marcelo; Kroos, Ramos; Bale, James, Ronaldo; Benzema

The 4-4-2 formation that Carlo Ancelotti deployed in the first leg of the tie didn't exact work out too well for Real Madrid, so a reversion to their traditional 4-2-3-1 might make some sense.

At the end of the day, however, it's really just about having as many scoring options on the pitch as possible, of which Real Madrid have no shortage.

Nesci: Casillas; Marcelo, Pepe, Sergio Ramos, Carvajal; Kroos, Isco, James; Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema.

Guns blazing.

Real Madrid is at this stage of the competition because of a frightening core of attacking players that can outscore nearly everybody else on the planet, not because they play stifling, lock-down defense.

You need goals. Who cares if Juventus gets one of their own? Go and get three or four. Real Madrid is capable of winning matches 4-2, 5-3 and the like, and if Carlo Ancelotti wants to give his side the best chance of retaining their Champions League crown, he should set them up to do exactly that.

If the impossible doesn’t happen, and Bayern Munich ultimately falls to Barcelona, would you consider their season a failure given that they will have only won the Bundesliga title?

Brunt: Bayern is without a doubt among the handful of teams in the world where capturing the league title is considered a disappointment if it's their only trophy of the season. The Bundesliga champs look set to bow out of the tournament they won two years ago, with rampant speculation about Pep Guardiola’s job security taking over the headlines in recent weeks.

However, with the annual meteoric expectations heading into each season, it seems safe to assume the club will dominate once again next year and should capture more than one trophy if they can manage to stay fit.

Campo: Suggesting that Bayern Munich's season was a failure would be ridiculous. Just look at the Bundesliga table. 76 points, 77 goals scored, and only 16 allowed. The title was essentially decided on the first matchday.

Bayern's transformation in recent years puts the club in a position where they're consistently forced to improve on the last campaign. Having won three consecutive Bundesliga titles, all eyes are now inevitably on European glory.

And that's okay. Holding Bayern to high standards is fine. But, let's not turn this into a Real Madrid type of scenario, where the negativity is toxic following a season in which they destroyed countless opponents despite falling just short in their ultimate quest.

Nesci: To call the season a complete failure would be unfair to Pep Guardiola and his crew. The Bavarian giants waltzed to the Bundesliga title, annihilating all challengers and wrapping up the crown, for all intents and purposes, months ago.

Assuming they fall to Barcelona today, they will have lost to one of the best attacking teams we have ever seen - led by arguably the best player of all-time. It's tough to find much fault in that, particularly given how hard the injury bug has hit them this season.

As for the German Cup semifinal against Borussia Dortmund, sure, you probably shouldn't miss four penalties, but again, we're looking at inches here. If Xabi Alonso and Philipp Lahm don't slip, we're probably talking about Bayern as winners of a domestic double when all is said and done.

If anything, their season goes to show you how pivotal a role luck, both with injuries and during individual matches, plays in this sport, and how a little bit of it can entirely change our perception of a season.