Real Madrid v Napoli Betting Preview – UEFA Champions League 15th February 7.45pm
Not an easy looking tie for Real Madrid here as they begin the knockout stage of their UEFA Champions League title defence. They haven’t been flying along in top form lately and they will face a Napoli side who are very tough to beat and who have put together a long stretch of unbeaten form across all competitions. The Italians have also been strong on the road in Europe recently. Will Real Madrid be able to shake off their injury problems and land themselves a first leg advantage to defend back out in Italy? There could be a very tough second leg for them to come so will they be able to get their noses in front at the Bernabeu on Wednesday?
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Real Madrid v Napoli Betting Tips
There was a surprise outcome for Real Madrid in the group stage as they failed to top their group. They were edged out by the form of Borussia Dortmund in the end, but the Spaniards did stay unbeaten in the group. They are looking to make it through to the quarter finals of the UEFA Champions League for the seventh successive year. Real Madrid are defending their title in the competition this year of course, and with that in mind, they are once again looking to become the first side ever to successfully defend a UEFA Champions League title. So history is not on their side. Real Madrid had put together an eight match winning streak at home in Europe before they were held at home in a 2-2 draw by Borussia Dortmund on match day six of the group stage. That was a blow for them, as it kept the Germans in top spot. But they won’t be totally unhappy with the draw they got and they have won 28 of their last 32 UEFA Champions League home games, suffering just the one defeat in that sequence.
Real Madrid faced Italian opposition at this stage last season when they took on Roma and the Spaniards won both matches 2-0. That was actually a pretty big deal for them as they had previously lost eight consecutive two-legged knockout ties against Italian opposition before that though. Real Madrid have won 22 of their 31 home matches against Italian opponents (D3 L6). In their only previous European Cup encounter against Napoli, Real Madrid won through 3-1 on aggregate (back in the 1987/88 season). Real Madrid have hit the back of the net in each of their last 33 Champions League home games and you have a price of 8/13 at Bet365 on both teams to score. There is an option of 8/15 on the game going over 2.5 goals as well. Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 34 goals in 38 knockout stage appearances for Real Madrid, but he has failed to score a goal in his last 433 minutes of Champions League action. Ronaldo is at 8/15 in the anytime goalscorer market with Karim Benzema at 4/5. Benzema has scored four of Real Madrid’s last six Champions League games.
Napoli actually look a pretty good dark horse for the competition this season. They don’t look as if they will bow out quietly at all. They are on an 18 match unbeaten streak of form across all competitions at the moment and they have won 12 of those. This is just the second time that they have been in the knockout stage of the competition and the one previous time that they were here was back in the 2011/12 season, they lost out against Chelsea, despite winning the first leg 3-1. They crumbled 4-1 at Stamford Bridge. The Italians collected 11 points in winning their group and seven of those points came out on the road in a solid campaign. They have a W5 D1 L1 record in their last seven games out on the road in European competition, however the one loss in that sequence did happen in Spain, against Villarreal in the UEFA Europa League last year.
Overall Napoli’s away record to Spanish opponents is W2 D0 L4 so not too much to write home about. Napoli have not won any of their last four meetings with a Spanish side, home and away (D2 L2) but are they value for a draw in this one? They did manage to top their group and given their long unbeaten form, are clearly showing some resilience. But they have claimed only the one clean sheet in their last 10 games out on the road in the UEFA Champions League but then that one clean sheet happened in Spain, again against Villarreal again back in 2011 meeting. Dries Mertens in in prolific form this season in front of goal and he has four of Napoli’s last eight goals in the competition and he is a 2/1 anytime goalscorer option for Napoli with Arkadiusz Milik at the same price as well. They have their threats.
Real Madrid v Napoli Betting Odds
Real Madrid 4/7, Draw 10/3, Napoli 11/2
Real Madrid v Napoli Predictions
Real Madrid haven’t been on top of their game lately, having won just three of their last six played, so clear room for improvement. They have a mightily strong home record in the UEFA Champions League at the moment though and are probably not going to be losing this one. Do Napoli have enough to pull off a shock though? Probably not, but they won’t go down without a fight, so look for both teams to score and a Real Madrid 2-1 correct score has appeal.
