While Real Madrid have turned a corner in La Liga -- taking advantage of Barcelona's slip-ups -- the Champions League is a different story.
The 15-time champions have seen some of their early struggles in La Liga carry over to the Champions League with losses to AC Milan and Liverpool in their last two encounters.
Sitting in 24th place, Real Madrid travel to Italy to take on Atalanta in a match they have to win in order to keep the last play-in spot and to continue to depend on themselves should they want to reach the knock-out rounds.
"It's tough, obviously," Federico Valverde said in his pre-match press conference. "At this club we aren't used to these moments, we're used to being near the top, and being more calm in this competition. But it's part of football, part of the process, we have to work hard."
One of the criticisms of Real Madrid has been that when they come up against a team with some quality, they retreat into their shell resulting in the opponent being all over them before ultimately conceding.
Real Madrid has lost three of their five Champions League fixtures. They trailed against Stuttgart in their opening match and were 2-0 down against Borussia Dortmund before the German side collapsed in the second half.
Carlo Ancelotti will once again be without Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo with the Brazilian duo recovering from injuries, though both have returned to training.. Against Girona, Jude Bellingham looked like the Bellingham of last year where he was in the right place at the right time, scoring for Los Blancos.
"It's important to have Vinicius back in training so he can start getting back up to speed, the same goes for Rodrygo," Ancelotti said. "Bellingham is fine, 100%. The only doubts we have are Vinicius and Rodrygo. We'll decide on them after the training session."
Given Kylian Mbappe's struggles and the absence of the Brazilians, Real Madrid will need Bellingham to be the Bellingham of old should they want to beat an Atalanta side who have been a revelation both in the Champions League and in Serie A.
"It's a tough match against a team who are playing really well," Ancelotti said. "They have improved since the European Super Cup. They are in great form, have real enthusiasm and have won a lot of games. We have to make the most of the three remaining games to qualify."
Atalanta are Serie A leaders, two points in front of Napoli and in fifth place in the Champions League table. It won't be easy for Real Madrid given their poor form in the competition as well as the belief the Italian side will have heading in to the match.
For Atalanta, they'll want to continue their good run and edge closer to automatically qualify to the knockout round while Real Madrid need a win to not put their presence in the competition altogether in jeopardy.