Real Madrid vs. Red Bull Salzburg: UCL Match Preview, Odds & Prediction

Get ready for an exciting matchup between Real Madrid and Red Bull Salzburg in the UEFA Champions League. Find out the latest odds and predictions for this highly anticipated game.

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Real Madrid vs. Red Bull Salzburg: UCL Match Preview, Odds & Prediction

Real Madrid vs. Red Bull Salzburg: UCL Match Preview, Odds & Prediction

On Wednesday night, Real Madrid will host Red Bull Salzburg to alleviate some of their strain in the Champions League.

With a victory here, the defending champions can almost guarantee a place in the top 24 after a troubling start that had them on the verge of missing the knockout round altogether.

Previous Matches and Head-to-head

Real Madrid, the current league champions, were in danger of failing to qualify for the league phase if they hadn't secured a crucial away victory over Atalanta on matchday six.

On matchday seven, Carlo Ancelotti's squad is only two points out of the playoffs, and they might face pressure from teams that play an hour earlier on Tuesday.

Real has nine points from its first six games, making it almost untouchable in the standings. From here on out, it will want to establish itself as firmly as possible in the playoff zone, and its last two games are definitely winnable.

With Brest waiting for them on matchday eight, Salzburg will have a shot at a playoff spot unless they suffer a shocking collapse. They have been terrible this season.

After a remarkable comeback from their Spanish Super Cup thrashing at the hands of Barcelona, Real Madrid's morale will also be much higher.

With a 5-2 victory over Celta Vigo, they advanced to the Copa del Rey quarterfinals, and a 4-1 win over Las Palmas propelled them to the top of La Liga, thanks to points conceded by Barça and Atletico Madrid.

After most of the season playing catch-up, Real Madrid now finds itself seven points ahead of Barcelona. Their nearest rivals are Atletico Madrid, and with four games remaining before the Madrid derby in a few weeks—against Salzburg, Real Valladolid, Brest, and Espanyol—they will feel confident heading into the contest.

At the moment, however, all attention is focused on the Champions League, and they are heavy favorites to continue their impressive streak of 32 consecutive home games with a goal in each.

However, Ancelotti's squad lost their most recent UCL home match, 3-1, against AC Milan, his old club. Real Madrid might suffer its first back-to-back defeat at the Bernabeu in more than six years with this loss.

The home fans are hoping for a repeat performance of their 1998 thrashing of Sturm Graz, their last match against an Austrian team, when they faced Salzburg for the first time.

Given Salzburg's current campaign—in which they are on the verge of elimination from this tournament and are much behind the local leaders—that is also a genuine possibility.

Unwanted history might also be created here: with a loss of two goals or more without scoring, Salzburg would tie the record for most times a club has experienced that in a single season, which is now held by Sturm of Austria (six).

On matchday six, a 3-0 victory for an out-of-sorts Paris Saint-Germain led to Pep Lijnders's dismissal. Lijnders had already presided over a 5-0 beating at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen, a 4-0 home defeat against Brest, an unusual away victory for Dinamo Zagreb, and a 3-0 humiliation at the hands of Sparta Prague.

The Austrian Bundesliga is currently on winter vacation until February 9. Therefore, this will be Thomas Letsch's first game in charge after being out of a job since being fired from Bochum in April.

Taking on the two Madrid teams means Salzburg needs a little miracle to advance, and even with two victories, they'll only have nine points—far from enough to advance, anyway.

After losing 6-0 to Bayern Munich and 3-2 to Midtjylland in a midseason friendly, Salzburg did not play again until a 3-0 victory against Klagenfurt on December 14.

Real Madrid vs. Red Bull Salzburg

Lucas Vazquez will be suspended for Real Madrid's match against Atalanta after picking up his third continental booking of the season; Ancelotti will also be without Dani Carvajal due to injury.

Aurelien Tchouameni has shown he can step in at defense over the previous year. However, he is questionable for this match after sitting out the weekend's victory; Federico Valverde started there against Liverpool recently.

Eduardo Camavinga's availability in midfield is seriously doubted, so Ancelotti is expected to immediately play Luka Modric and Vinicius Junior upon their return from suspensions served over the weekend.

Salzburg will be without key players Maurits Kjaergaard and Karim Konate due to long-term injuries. Alexander Schlager, Bobby Clark (both sick), Amar Dedic (ankle), and Daouda Guindo (knee) are all questionable after sitting out the last friendly.

Fernando, a striker, had a brilliant debut for the club, netting 12 goals in 26 games. However, he has since struggled with injuries and was moved to Bragantino in his native country last week.

Karim Onisiwo, who scored in last week's friendly against Midtjylland, has returned to Austria on a free transfer from Mainz; nevertheless, he will not be eligible to play in this match.

Our predictions

(Handicap 0:2) Real Madrid to win @ 1.65 on Sky247.ng

Salzburg has taken a beating in the Champions League this season, and they're facing their greatest test yet; another crushing defeat might be on the way.

If Real Madrid wants to create some distance between themselves and the teams fighting for a spot in the top 24 in the league, they should easily win this match.

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