The Champions League resumes this week and on Tuesday, the top two teams in Group H will go head-to-head as Real Madrid hosts Tottenham.
Tottenham
Spurs have two wins from two games so far in the Champions League and they won 3-0 at Apoel Nicosia in their last European match. All three goals came from Harry Kane, who has five goals in two games and has been on fire for both Tottenham and England, and he currently tops the Champions League in goals. Tottenham is going to need those goals because as Kane goes, they go. Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen are both very good players (Alli has yet to play in the Champions League this season), but Tottenham needs Kane firing on all cylinders, especially if they going to take anything away from the Bernabeu. Tottenham will host Bournemouth in the English Premier League on Saturday.
Real Madrid
Real has also won both of their games to start the Champions League campaign, and they got two goals from Cristiano Ronaldo in a 3-1 win at Borussia Dortmund in their last European match. Gareth Bale also scored for Real, and Bale has been playing much better as of late. He’ll have plenty of motivation to play in this match as he made his name at Tottenham before he was sold to Real Madrid, but there have been whispers that he could be sold for the right price. Bale gets hurt a lot, but when he is on the pitch and 100% healthy, he can be a game-changer, even for a team that already has Ronaldo. Real will be on the road on Saturday to visit Getafe in La Liga.
Outlook
Real is a major -275 favorite at home in this match against Tottenham, who are rated at +650 and a draw comes in at +400. Real has three wins and a draw in four meetings with Spurs, as they won 1-0 at Tottenham in the quarterfinals of the 1985 UEFA Cup (what is now the Europa League; Real would go on to win the tournament), and then they drew 0-0 at home. In the quarterfinals of the 2011 Champions League, Real romped to a 4-0 win at home, so a 1-0 win at Tottenham was more or less moot by that point. Bale was on that Tottenham team, and then he was sold to Real in 2013 for almost $119 million, which was then a transfer record.
It’ll be interesting to see how much of an attacking team Tottenham wants to be on the road in Madrid, because Real’s defense can be shaky at times. Kane can be a nuisance to them, and they have to put away any chances they get. There is also the battle in midfield, where Spurs could send out Alli, Eriksen and probably Eric Dier to take on Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Casemiro. Casemiro over Dier gives Real a big edge in this category and that could be the key to this game.
Champions League Betting Pick: Real Madrid
Get all of the latest odds on every Champions League match at Play Shangri La, including the betting lines to win it all.
