No rout for Real
Time for the Champions League again, and Real Madrid have the perfect chance to rack up two straight wins in their group. I have my doubts that Real will pull off a real rout in Russia though.
CSKA Moscow
The Russians started their Champions League campaign in mixed fashion away to Czech side Viktoria Plzen two weeks ago. They first went down 2-0 but found the character to pull it back to claim a point from a 2-2 draw.
They’ll find it difficult to score
Now it’s getting all the more serious when they go up against European masters Real Madrid, and it’ll be a whole other proposition in the hunt for even a point. Despite the confidence gained from the Plzen match, and despite the fact that CSKA haven’t lost in a cool 8 matches, they’ll still find it difficult to score.
Given Real Madrid’s current up and down form as of late I don’t think they’ll roll over the Russians, although CSKA are now what they used to be.
The Moscow side are missing key forward Abel Fernandez who’s bagged 2 in 6 in the Russian Premier League.
Real Madrid
Real showed Roma who’s boss with a routine 3-0 win at home at the Bernabeu a fortnight ago. Since then though Real have gone off the boil a bit in La Liga, only managing to creep past 1-0 against Espanyol, followed by an absolute destruction away to Sevilla, losing 3-0. They failed to break down cross town rivals Atlético Madrid at the weekend with the derby finishing 0-0.
Their match against CSKA is a good opportunity for Los Blancos to get back to winning ways, but it’s not going to all go their way considering their less than impressive form. It’s not a positive sign either that key players Marcelo and Isco won’t be making the journey to Russia. There’s also serious doubts around the fitness of Gareth Bale who’s allegedly having trouble with his groin.
Match Tips
Quite simply, Real Madrid should be winning this match up considering the quality and stature of their opposition. Having said that, the goals will be kept to a minimum.
I’m betting for a Real win, and under 3.5 goals in the match to solid odds of 7/5 with Bethard.
Bet Real Madrid to win & under 3.5 goals in the match on Bethard
