Roma vs Real Madrid Betting Tips and Predictions

Roma come into the game in good form and in certainly a much better place than they were a few weeks ago. They’ve won their last 4 games in Serie A to move back up into the top 3 and salvage their hopes of playing in this competition again next year.

They are big underdogs for this tie and you’ll struggle to find anyone expecting them to win it over two legs but with home advantage and a partizan crowd at the Stadio Olimpico behind them, they have every chance in the home leg at least.

This is the first big test of Zinedine Zidane’s reign and we should learn a little more about how he is likely to approach tough away games in Europe. He’s won 5 of his 6 games in La Liga so far but the opposition hasn’t been great and their toughest opponents Athletic Bilbao scored twice against them at the Bernabeu on Saturday so there are defensive frailties Roma can exploit.

In his two away games, Real dropped points at Real Betis and needed a late winner at Granada and they have conceded in 4 of their last 5 matches. Real Madrid also have a very poor recent record in Italy. They’ve not won there since 2004 when they won 3-0 at the Stadio Olimpico against Roma in the group stage but since then they’ve not won on 8 visits and were beaten 2-1 by Roma in both legs at this stage in 2008.

Roma held Barcelona to a draw in the group stage and at 11/10 you can back them to avoid defeat again here. Los Blancos would almost certainly take a draw given they have looked much more comfortable at home in recent weeks and given this isn’t a particularly great Roma side, they should be able to get that.

With the attacking talent on display we should see goals you’d have thought although 1st legs can be a bit cagey so consider going for a 1-1 draw at 13/2.

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