Wednesday 11th April 2018 Kick off 1945hrs Real Madrid v Juventus Football – Europe – Champions League It was yet another masterclass from Cristano Ronaldo in the first leg of Real Madrid’s quarter final against Juventus to put the champions on the brink of another place in the final four. His two goals – including an astonishing overhead kick – have set Real up perfectly against the Italian champions. For Juventus it looks a very tall order and they look set to have their hearts broken once again by a team coached by their former star, Zinedine Zidane, having fallen foul to them in last year’s final played in Cardiff.
Having been written off after the group stage, the last couple of performances in the Champions League from Real Madrid would have been as pleasing to Zidane as any other standalone game. To dismantle PSG and Juventus in their own stadiums highlights just how well suited the current European champions are to this format and, particularly, stage of the competition. The big occasion brings out the absolute best in this group of players and although they have underachieved in La Liga this term, they are going from strength to strength in Europe. The swagger has returned to Ronaldo and his teammates and few would bet against them going all the way to win this for the third straight year – creating more history along the way. Ronaldo is also on course to break all sorts of individual records as well and will be delighted to see the attention his goal last week – along with his impressive recent performances as a whole – are getting across the game. Whilst he certainly places a lot of emphasis on those accolades, he will love nothing more than being the man that leads this giant of Europe to yet more glory on the continent.
Juventus would have been hoping to avoid being drawn against Real Madrid ahead of the quarter final draw considering the painful recent memories of their tussle in Cardiff last June. Max Allegri was contemplating walking away from the club at that point having reached two Champions League finals in his three seasons at the club, but coming undone both times. It looks like this will be another attempt to be blown apart by Real who showed no mercy to Juve on their own patch last Tuesday. Despite going down very early on, the Italians responded very strongly but passed up a number of good opportunities as they attempted to get back on level terms. As always with a team who has Ronaldo leading their attack, they were duly punished and conceded twice in the latter stages of the game to put them at the foot of a massive mountain. Having to get a result in the away leg is nothing new for this team and they achieved a sizeable feat in itself when coming back against Tottenham in the previous round. That surprised many all things considered, but this would be a huge shock if they can turn the tie against Madrid around.
Real Madrid v Juventus Betting Tip
Based on the last two meetings between Real Madrid and Juventus, it’s a fair assessment to believe that Zidane’s men have the number of their Italian counterparts. For all the pressure that Juve had last week in the first leg, Real defended well and always looked a threat on the counter. Indeed, the number of players that poured forward when Madrid broke was telling and clearly an area that Zizou identified beforehand. That doesn’t bode well for the return game, either, as Juventus cannot allow Real to dictate the tempo on Wednesday – they have to take the game to their hosts and hope for a goal to begin their comeback. For Real it is likely to be a similar approach to how they played at home to PSG by allow their opponents to control possession but take advantage of any mistakes – and they are the most ruthless team when presented with those opportunities.
Real looked ominous when strolling past PSG in Paris and now with Luca Modric and Toni Kroos back they looking even more dominant and are getting back to the same level that seen them win the Champions League in each of the last two campaigns. Winning it in consecutive seasons was historic and they are looking like they can create yet more by going all this way once again. Juventus will pose them problems once again as they did in the first leg but they are going to be exiting Europe at the hands of Real for a second straight season and the hosts can do it with a victory.
Real Madrid to win and both teams to score 11/5 @ Betfair
