Real Madrid travel across the city to play rivals Atletico on Wednesday night in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final. It’s a repeat of two recent finals of the competition, with Los Blancos triumphing on both occasions and they won again in the first leg, thanks to a hat-trick from Cristiano Ronaldo.
Atletico didn’t help themselves in the first leg, failing to score an away goal, while star player Antoine Griezmann put in a distinctly sub-par performance. The failure to score an away goal looks to have already cost them in this tie, but stranger things have happened in this season’s Champions League. However, they have managed five wins from their last six games at home, keeping a clean sheet in four of them and they haven’t lost a Champions League game at the Calderon since September 2015.
On the other hand, Real Madrid kept their La Liga title hopes alive at the weekend, thumping Granada 4-0 to record seven wins from their last eight games. They’ve won nine consecutive away games, but they’ve kept just one clean sheet in this run.
Atletico Madrid vs. Real Madrid Predictions
Real Madrid may not win this game, but if they score an away goal, then it should end the tie. Atletico are strong at home and have a very good record against their city rivals, which should count in their favour.
Atletico Madrid vs. Real Madrid Betting Tips
- Atletico Madrid to win: 33/20
- Draw: 5/2
- Real Madrid to win: 33/20
- Atletico Madrid to win and both teams to score: 16/5
- Ronaldo to score anytime: Evens
Head to Head
- No team has ever overturned a 3-0 first leg away defeat in the Champions League knockout stages in five previous attempts, although Barcelona managed the biggest ever comeback in this season’s round of 16 by eliminating PSG 6-5 on aggregate after a 4-0 first leg defeat.
- Atletico Madrid only had one shot on target in the first leg, their lowest tally in a Champions League game under Diego Simeone.
- This is the fourth season in succession that these city rivals face off in the Champions League knockout phase, Atletico are yet to claim victory during this recent run (D2 L3).
- The only previous European semi-final between the two clubs saw Real Madrid progress through to the final after three legs against city rivals during the 1958/59 campaign, they went on to lift the trophy.
- Atletico Madrid have won 17 of their 22 previous Champions League home games under Diego Simeone (D4 L1), their only defeat coming against Benfica in September (1-2). They are unbeaten at the Calderon in the knockout stages (W6 D4).
- However, they’ve scored more than two goals on only one occasion in 10 knockout games at the Calderon under Simeone. It came in March 2014 against AC Milan (4-1).
- Atletico Madrid have also kept a clean sheet in 16 of their 18 Champions League games at the Calderon.
- Real Madrid have won their last five Champions League games, their longest ever run of victories in the knockout stage of the competition.
- Real Madrid, alongside Juventus, are the only unbeaten team in this season’s Champions League (W8 D3). They have also only lost one of their last 13 knockout games (W9 D3), against Wolfsburg in April 2016 (0-2).
- Real Madrid have scored at least two goals in each of their 11 Champions League games this season.
- Cristiano Ronaldo has now scored 103 goals in the Champions League, three more than Atletico Madrid.
- Ronaldo has scored eight of Real Madrid’s last nine goals in the Champions League, the other coming from Marco Asensio.
Atletico Madrid Team News
Jose Gimenez, Juanfran, Sime Vrsaljko and Augusto Fernandez are all set to miss out.
Real Madrid Team News
Raphael Varane, Dani Carvajal, Pepe and Gareth Bale are all sidelined.
