Real Madrid will look to carry their recent good form into the UEFA Champions League as they host Salzburg on Wednesday. Los Blancos are playing with confidence at the moment and should be too strong for the Austrians, who have struggled in the competition.
Los Blancos have been below their best in this season’s Champions League as they have picked up three wins and suffered as many defeats from their six matches. However, one of the wins came in their previous fixture in the competition as they won 3-2 at Atalanta.Real have been solid lately and are unbeaten in 10 of their last 11 matches in all competitions. The 4-1 win over Las Palmas highlights the mood of Carlo Ancelotti’s team lately as they scored and won both halves in that clash, although they have conceded in all six of their Champions League matches.
Salzburg have been poor in this season’s Champions League, suffering five defeats in six matches, including a 3-0 home defeat to PSG last time out. They are currently outside the playoff places but sitting five points off the top 24, still hold a slim chance of progressing to the next phase.
Despite switching managers, Salzburg’s recent form remains poor as they are winless in four of their last five matches in all competitions. Thomas Letsch’s men have lost three times in that run and were thrashed 6-0 by Bayern Munich in a friendly earlier in January.
Head to head: Only one meeting
The only previous meeting between both teams was a friendly in 2019 which ended 1-0 in favour of Real Madrid.
Probable line-ups
Eduardo Camavinga, Aurelien Tchouameni, Eder Militao and Dani Carvajal are all sidelined with injury for Real Madrid. Vinicius Junior was suspended for the win at Las Palmas and should return to the attack on Wednesday alongside Rodrygo and Mbappe.
Karim Konate remains sidelined for Salzburg after undergoing surgery for a torn cruciate ligament in his knee. Nene should feature in attack alongside Oscar Gloukh while Samson Baidoo should retain his place in defence.
Real Madrid: Courtois, Garcia, Rudiger, Ansencio, Vazquez, Valverde, Ceballos, Vinicius, Bellingham, Rodrygo, Mbappe.
Salzburg: Blaswich, Morgalla, Baidoo, Mellberg, Terzic, Yeo, Capaldo, Bidstrup, Nene, Daghim, Gloukh.
