REAL MADRID travel to Portugal on Tuesday to face Braga in the third round of games in the Champions League.
A four-game winning run in all competitions came to an end at the weekend when they were surprisingly held to a 1-1 draw at Sevilla.
They have won both games narrowly in the group after an injury time winner against Union Berlin and a 3-2 success at Napoli, but Carlo Ancelotti's side aren't quite on top form yet.
And Braga are certainly no mugs and they have a very decent European pedigree to match.
They showed that in the last game in the group when they went to the German capital and beat Union Berlin in the city's Olympic Stadium. Previously, they were edged out at home by Napoli in a narrow 2-1 defeat.
In the Portuguese League, Braga currently sit in fourth place at the time of writing and have now won four games in a row in all competitions after defeating Rio Ave at home at the weekend.
And they are an entertaining watch with goals at both ends.
How the bookies view it
Real Madrid are solid favourites here at 1/2 with bet365 and they are generally 2/5.
Braga can be backed at 5/1 with Paddy Power and the draw is 18/5 with Coral.
Recent head to heads
This will be the first ever meeting between the two clubs.
Players to watch
Riccardo Horta is the main man for Braga after six goals already this season. He is a big price at 7/2 to score anytime with bet365.
Jude Bellingham has of course been in sensational form for Real Madrid and England this season. He has eight league goals for the season and plenty will be tempted at bet365's 13/10 for him to score anytime.
Anything else catch the eye?
Braga have managed just two clean sheets in 15 games all season and the last of those came nine games ago. And they've scored in every match this season apart from the season opener defeat to Porto.
So this should be set up to be a fine, entertaining game with goals at both ends, with Real Madrid's defence not watertight either.
But the Spaniards should be too strong for Braga and can win it at 17/10 with William Hill with both teams to score.
On a similar theme, back Real Madrid to win and over 3.5 goals at a very decent 2/1 with Paddy Power and it would be no surprise if Bellingham was one of the scorers either.
This UEFA Champions League match between Braga and Real Madrid will be played on Oct 24, 2023 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Braga vs Real Madrid prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
