Real Madrid welcome Napoli to the Santiago Bernabeu as they look to take a step towards becoming the first team to retain the Champions League trophy as we know it now. Real are leading by 1 point in the League but the fact that they have 2 matches in hand swings the matter greatly in their favour.
Napoli are currently 3rd and are just 2 points off the 2nd spot which they will be targeting as the League enters its final few months. Traditionally matches against Italian teams have been difficult to handle for Los Blancos and people expect a similar kind of game as they welcome back European football after the break.
TRIVIA
- In their only previous encounter, Real Madrid knocked out Napoli in the first round of the 1987/88 European Cup, winning 2-0 at home before a 1-1 draw in Italy.
- However, Real Madrid have been eliminated in seven of their last eight home/away ties with Italian sides in the European Cup/Champions League, the only exception coming against Roma in last season’s round of 16.
- This is the 20th consecutive season in which Real Madrid have made it to the Champions League knockout stages, a record in the competition – they have reached the semis in each of the last 6 seasons.
- Napoli topped their Champions League group for the first time, after finishing 2nd (2011/12) and 3rd (2013/14). However, they’ve never gone further than the round of 16.
- Since 2010/11, Real Madrid have won 33 of their 39 Champions League games at Santiago Bernabeu (D4 L2). Their two defeats during that time have come against Barcelona in April 2011 and Schalke in March 2015.
- Real Madrid have also never failed to score in their last 33 Champions League home games, longest ever run in the competition. Barcelona were the last team to leave the Bernabeu with a clean sheet (2-0 in April 2011).
- Napoli, meanwhile, have only kept one clean sheet in 10 Champions League away games, it was on their only visit to Spain, against Villarreal in December 2011 (2-0).
- However, Napoli are unbeaten away from home in this season’s Champions League (W2 D1), their only loss coming at San Paolo against Besiktas (2-3).
- Cristiano Ronaldo has failed to score in his last 433 minutes of Champions League action, his longest drought in the competition at Real Madrid. He’s nevertheless scored 34 goals in 38 knockout games with the Spanish side.
TEAM NEWS & PREDICTED LINE-UPS
REAL MADRID (4-3-3)
Wednesday’s tie comes too soon for Bale and defender Danilo also misses out after suffering a gashed leg against Osasuna.
Zidane has an otherwise healthy squad at his disposal and all 19 players came through Tuesday’s training session, with Karim Benzema set to continue in attack despite his six-game goal drought and Lucas Vasquez tipped for a start.
Navas- Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo- Modric, Casemiro, Kroos- Vasquez, Benzema, Ronaldo
NAPOLI (4-3-3)
Arkadiusz Milik is back in Napoli’s ranks after recovering from cruciate ligament damage but the Polish international is likely to start on the sidelines again with Dries Mertens partnered by Lorenzo Insigne and former Madrid winger Jose Maria Callejon in attack.
Pepe Reina- Alexander Soderlund, Raúl Albiol, Nikola Maksimovic, Faouzi Ghoulam- Piotr Zielinski, Amadou Diawara, Marek Hamsik- Jose Maria Callejon, Dries Mertens, Lorenzo Insigne
BETTING ODDS
REAL MADRID- 4/7
DRAW- 7/2
NAPOLI- 5/1
TRIVIA COURTESY- OPTA
