Napoli face one of their biggest clashes in recent history as they face Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu in the Champions League on Wednesday. The two sides have not met in an official fixture since 1987, when Real Madrid prevailed 3-1 on aggregate in the European Champions' Cup after a 2-0 victory at home and a 1-1 draw in Italy.
Real Madrid are on track in all competitions, except the Copa del Rey, where they got knocked out in the semi-finals by Celta Vigo. They are leading the table in LaLiga and have won their last three league matches. However, the last time they were tested by a strong opponent, they lost 2-1 at Sevilla. Head coach Zinedine Zidane is monitoring the situation of Gareth Bale, the Welshman has returned to training after a lengthy spell on the sidelines but has more chances of playing in the second leg of this clash.
Napoli are on a very good streak, they have not lost a match since October, when they got beaten by Serie A rivals Juventus. However, they have recorded the odd draw in surprising circumstances, such as the home game against struggling Palermo at the end of January. Defender Lorenzo Tonelli is the only injury concern for head coach Maurizio Sarri.
Probable line-ups:
Real Madrid: Navas - Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo - Kroos, Casemiro, Modric - Vazquez, Benzema, Ronaldo
Napoli: Reina - Hysaj, Albiol, Koulibaly, Ghoulam - Zielinski, Jorginho, Hamsik - Callejon, Mertens, Insigne
My prediction: Real Madrid to win 2-1.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Real Madrid win - 1.57
Draw - 4.50
Napoli win - 6.00
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Comments (1)
sharpe
03/02/17, 02:03:41 AM
Real prevailed in this one despite that they allowed an early goal from the visitors, still they manage to equalize soon after and two second half goals will...
Real prevailed in this one despite that they allowed an early goal from the visitors, still they manage to equalize soon after and two second half goals will make the second leg game a lot more comfortable for them. It looks almost impossible for the home side to turn around the tie especially in the form they are lately but still Real M should be very serious about the upcoming rematch or they might suffer.
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