After inflicting a brutal attack over Real Betis Saturday night, Zidane’s men will be hosting Polish giants Legia Warszawa in their third match of UEFA Champions League group stage on Tuesday, October 18th.
A pretty comfortable win is predicted by many after Real Madrid’s stellar performance over the weekend, despite having key players like Sergio Ramos, Casemiro and Luka Modric and James Rodriguez out owing to injuries. Madrid is currently 2nd in the La Liga standings after ending their run of draws with a domination win over Real Betis.
Their work seems further easier as Legia Warszawa would be coming to Bernabeu after a disappointing 3-2 loss against Pogoń. They currently sit way down at the 12th position in the league table, achieving a poor 13 points in 12 games.
Team news
Real Madrid will still be without the trio of Casemiro, Luka Modric, and James Rodriguez again as they stay sidelined due to their injuries. Sergio Ramos is out until November as a result of a knee sprain. The good news, however, is the return of Marcelo and that too with a goal against Real Betis.
Apart from that, the weekend win has fairly distributed goals to Ronaldo and Benzema, who will be expecting to continue their form and link-up into the Champions league match midweek.
As for Legia, manager Jacek Magiera had to make do with ten players missing. Nikolić, Langil, Hamalainen, Qazaishvili, Aleksandrow, Kulenović, Wieteska, Szymański and of course Jodłowić and Pazdan before the weekend match though it managed to start with a strong team.
Miroslav Radović’s two goals at either end would give a boost to the manager against Madrid.
Predicted Line-up
Real Madrid (4-3-3): Keylor Navas; Marcelo, Pepe, Varane, Carvajal; Kovačić, Kroos, Isco; Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo.
Legia (4-4-2): Malarz – Bereszyński, Rzeźniczak, Czerwiński, Hlousek – Guilherme, Jodłowiec, Odjidja Ofoe, Kucharczyk – Radović, Nikolić.
Key players to look out for
Judging by Madrid’s weekend performance, which was an example of what could happen if everyone clicked; Kroos, Varane, and Marcelo are three key players Legia should be wary of after they have successfully marked the trio of Bale, Benzema, and Ronaldo.
As for Legia, a ray of sunshine could be the return of Michał Pazdan. Apart from that Jakub Czerwiński, who signed for Legia in August and Michał Kucharczyk, who has returned from injury, would be players to watch midweek.
Odds
A win for Madrid looks very much probable.
Real Madrid @ 1.025
Draw 26.00
Legia Warsaw @ 81.00
