The Madrid club is approaching the next match with Borussia in a difficult position. In the previous round Real Madrid failed to justify the status of the favorite in the away meeting with Shakhtar, losing with a score of 0:2. The defeat sent the Spanish grandee to third place in the group’s standings. Zinedine Zidane’s team scored seven points. The same amount has Shakhtar, but in terms of additional indicators the Ukrainian club is at a higher position. There are several options for the development of events for Real. The victory in this meeting will definitely put the creamy in the playoffs. In certain situations Madrid will be satisfied with a draw, but then everything will depend on the development of events in the parallel match Inter-Shakhtar Donetsk. Zidane’s team started poorly in the current tournament. First, the Royal Club lost to Shakhtar in their home arena (2:3), after which they lost points in Germany in the match with Borussia, having drawn with a score of 2:2. Two duels with Inter became key for the team, in which the creamy did not flinch and demonstrated their class. First, in a tough match they took three points at the Santiago Bernabeu (3:2), after which they achieved success in Milan with a score of 2:0. If you analyze the game of Real Madrid in recent seasons at home in the Champions League, then there is little reason for optimism. In the last eight home matches in the Champions League, the “royal club” won only two victories. Besides Inter they also managed to beat Galatasaray. The team finished two more matches in a draw and lost four times. The personnel situation looks like this. Federico Valverde, Eden Hazard, Mariano Diaz, Daniel Carvajal and Luca Jovic will miss the match due to injuries.
The tournament situation in the quartet was described above. It follows from it that Atalanta is in a better position than Ajax. After all, if the Dutch need to win the meeting, then the Bergamasks in this fight may well be satisfied with a draw. The Italians had a chance to strengthen their position in the last round, when they accepted the outsider Midtjylland. However, his charges Gian Piero Gasperini could not use it, being content with a draw result 1:1. Also the home match with Ajax (2:2) turned out to be a draw for the Bergamasks. On the road, Atalanta is much more successful in the Champions League. In the first away match they confidently beat the Danish champion with a score of 4:0 and were also convincing on the Liverpool field with a score 2:0. In general, within the Champions League Atalanta has achieved an away victory in the last four matches in a row. The Atalanta’s infirmary is not empty. Robin Gosens, Mario Pashalich, Mattia Caldara and Alexey Miranchuk are now there. Only the first two of them are the main players.
