REAL MADRID v ATLETICO MADRID
Tuesday 2nd May 2017 – Kickoff: 1945hrs
Football – Europe – Champions League Betting Tips
It’s a very similar feel to this year’s Champions League as Spanish clubs Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid face off against each other again, but this time in the semi-final of this prestigious competition, for the right to take their place in the final.
As well as being a local derby, the stakes are also high for the club that can emerge as the winner over the next two legs, starting on Tuesday night at the Bernabeu Stadium where Real Madrid will be desperate to squeeze out a lead.
On the domestic front, Real Madrid have been in pretty good form aside from their one defeat from their last 12 La Liga matches which was a 3-2 loss at home to current league leaders and arch-rivals, Barcelona. Real Madrid are also unbeaten in their last 14 in the Champions League, while they’ve won 12 of their last 13 home matches in this competition.
Midfielder Gareth Bale has been ruled out, but the usual suspects of Ronaldo and Benzema should spearhead the Real Madrid attack tonight.
Visitors Atletico Madrid have once again gone deep into the Champions League and they appear to have closed the gap on the ‘big two’ in Spanish top flight football as they’ve become a regular fixture on the european stage as well as becoming a greater threat for the La Liga title.
They no longer fear the likes of Barcelona or indeed their crosstown rivals Real Madrid even though they’ve only actually beaten their city rivals once in the last six meetings with them. But the underlying factor in my pick tonight is that if the encounter between Real and Atletico is settled with a winner, there’s more often than not only a single goal in it.
Indeed, five of the last six meetings have produced less than 2.5 goals and with the stakes so high in this first leg, I see a very tight affair unfolding here.
Pick: Under 2.75 goals @ 1.62 Comeon
