Real Madrid have one foot in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals. The Spaniards have quite a sizable advantage after their impressive first leg away win in Italy. They must now take care of business at the Bernabeu to progress in the tournament, which is their last remaining chance of silverware this season. However, Roma have been resurgent over the past few weeks, and will look to go down swinging in Spain.
Read on below for more on this second leg showdown in the Spanish capital. Meanwhile, check out our preview of Tuesday’s other Champions League matchup, Wolfsburg vs. Gent.
With a 2-0 win over Roma in the first leg, it’d take a pretty epic meltdown for Real Madrid to not go through to the quarterfinals. Real are whopping -8,000 favorites to move on, and are still +500 to win a second Champions League title in three years.
Cristiano Ronaldo once again got on the scoresheet in Rome for his tournament-leading 12th goal of the campaign. Ronaldo has been on some tear since publicly blasting his teammates in a recent loss to rivals Atletico Madrid. He’s scored five goals in his last two games, including four goals in a 7-1 rout of Celta Vigo on Saturday.
With the La Liga title out of reach, look for Real to take their frustrations out on their Champions League opponents and give their home fans something to cheer for.
Real won all three home games at the Bernabeu during the group stage, with a whopping 13 goals scored and none conceded. Roma, on the flipside, have conceded 13 goals in their three away games.
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Betting on Roma
Despite facing a 2-0 deficit and massive +3,000 odds, don’t completely discount Roma’s chances of going through. That first leg loss has seemingly lit a fire under Roma, who have destroyed their next three opponents by a combined score of 12-2. The Italians have now won their last seven Serie A matches in a row.
Youngsters Mohamed Salah and Stephan El Shaarawy have inspired Roma’s recent resurgence. Salah has scored four goals in the last three games, while El Shaarawy has three. Both players were on the scoresheet in Roma’s 4-1 win over Fiorentina on Saturday.
Winning at the Bernabeu would be quite a big ask due to Roma’s unreliable defense. Roma’s last visit to Spain was not pretty, as they were thrashed 6-1 by Barcelona. They were also beaten 3-2 by minnows BATE away from home during the group stage.
However, the Italians do have the weapons up front with the in-form duo of Salah and El Shaarawy to trouble Real through the wings, and could lead to an away goal or two.
Writer’s Prediction
Real Madrid (-305) rolls to the quarterfinals with a 3-1 home win.
