UCL Preview: Atalanta vs Real Madrid, key stats, line-ups, odds, prediction

Luka Modric-Real Madrid

Real Madrid will travel to Bergamo this Wednesday to take on Italian side Atalanta in what promises to be an exciting first leg encounter in UEFA Champions League.

Stadium: Gewiss Stadium 

Key Statistics

  • Atalanta have scored 3+ goals in four of their last five home matches. 
  • The hosts have lost just once in their last 20 games in all competitions
  • Real Madrid are on a run of four consecutive wins in the league
  • They have kept three clean sheets in their last three games. 

Atalanta

Atalanta are looking to establish their Champions League pedigree after qualifying for the second quarter-final stage in their second season in the competition. 

They qualified for the knockout stage from a tough group, ahead of Ajax after finishing second behind Liverpool and will be looking to repeat the attacking performance at this stage last season when they knocked out Valencia.

Gian Gasperini’s men were eliminated in the semi-final by PSG last season and will hope to perform better against another big name in Real Madrid. 

Possible Atalanta line-ups

Pierluigi Gollini; Rafael Toloi, Cristian Romero, Berat Djimsiti; Joakim Maehle, Maarten de Roon, Remo Freuler, Robin Gosens; Josip Ilicic; Luis Muriel, Duvan Zapata

Unavailable Players: Hateboer (metatarsal)

We have never met before, so only on the pitch will we be able to get a sense of Real Madrid’s strength. They are one of the best teams in the world, but we have always come out of these games with a little more knowledge and quality.

Qualification will be decided over the course of two games,  so it’s clear that the ideal result would be a victory, but we have to be very careful too…. It will be a match of the highest level that we will have to play in the best way.

Gian Piero Gasperini, Atalanta Manager before Real Madrid match

Real Madrid

Real Madrid have recovered from their early season blip and are performing better again in the domestic league. 

The Spanish giants were nearly eliminated from the Champions League group stage because of poor performances in their opening group matches. But they rallied when it mattered the most to qualify top of their group.

Now they travel to Bergamo as favourites and will look to make their experience count in this fixture. However, they have lost their fear factor and could be beaten by any team these days, especially when considering their woeful injury problems.

Possible Real Madrid line-ups

Thibaut Courtois; Lucas Vazquez, Raphael Varane, Nacho Fernandez, Ferland Mendy; Casemiro, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric; Marco Asensio, Vinicius Junior, Mariano Diaz.

Unavailable players: Benzema (adductor), Ramos (knee), Carvajal (hamstring), Rodrygo (hamstring), Militão (adductor), Hazard (thigh), Marcelo (calf), Valverde (adductor), Odriozola (hamstring)

We knew what this season would be like from the start. We can’t just focus on injury absentees or the fact we aren’t at the Bernabeu. We have to look at ourselves and prepare for the game well. We’ve got a really tough opponent and we need to try and beat them. We’re well prepared for this game, we need to be solid at the back and create chances going forward.

We want the side to play like they have done in the Liga of late. We know what kind of game we’ll encounter, and we’re doing things well recently. The dynamic of the side is good and we want that to continue. We’re all in for tomorrow’s game.

We want to do our best and get to the final, of course. Every game at the moment is a ‘final’, and more so if it’s in a knockout competition. We’ve got two tough games, but the focus is on the first one.

Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid Manager before Lazio match

Betting Odds

Atalanta : Draw : Real Madrid :: 2.30 : 3.75 : 2.87

RankAtalanta GoalReal Madrid GoalBetting Odds ↑
1117.50
2219.00
31010.00
41211.00
50112.00

Prediction

Atalanta 2—1 Real Madrid