Real Madrid resume their Champions League title defence when they do battle with AC Milan at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday night.
After stumbling to a shock 1-0 loss at Lille on matchday two, Los Blancos bounced back by staging a stunning second-half comeback from two goals down to defeat Borussia Dortmund 5-2 a fortnight ago.
However, Carlo Ancelotti’s side were brought back down to earth with an almighty bump when being savagely beaten 4-0 by arch-rivals, Barcelona, in a game that brought up my El Clasico player-based selection.
The reigning Spanish and European champions will have had 10 long days to stew over that bruising setback after their weekend trip to Valencia was postponed due to flash floods.
As for AC Milan, they banked their first Champions League points of the campaign with a 3-1 win over Club Brugge two weeks ago, on a night where our man Gabriel struck gold with a clean sweep of San Siro winners.
Paulo Fonseca’s side moved up to seventh place in Serie A with a narrow 1-0 win away at Monza on Saturday.
How the bookies view it: Real to reign supreme
Real Madrid, who have won their opening two home games in this season’s Champions League, are odds-on 8/15 favourites with Betway.
AC Milan are big underdogs at 5/1 on Betano, while a share of the Santiago Bernabeu spoils is also considered unlikely at 15/4 with the same bookmaker.
Head to head: History book perfectly balanced
These two European heavyweights have gone toe-to-toe on 15 occasions, each claiming six victories apiece, while the other three meetings have ended all square. Tuesday night’s tussle will be the first time the pair have crossed paths in a competitive contest since way back in 2010.
Players to watch: The Rossoneri to feel the wrath of Vinicius Junior?
Vinicius Junior, who boycotted last week’s Ballon d'Or ceremony, is as big as 17/10 on Unibet to make the net bulge on Monday night. After hitting a hat-trick against Borussia Dortmund on matchday three, the Brazilian looks overpriced to make his mark against AC Milan.
Christian Pulisic has netted in two of AC Milan's opening three games in this season’s Champions League. The USA captain is 9/2 on Bet 365 for an anytime strike in the Spanish capital on Tuesday night.
Predicted line-ups
Real Madrid will be unable to call upon the services of injured quartet Dani Carvajal, David Alaba, Rodrygo and Thibaut Courtois on Tuesday night.
AC Milan will once again be without long-term absentees Ismael Bennacer and Alessandro Florenzi, who are both not expected to return from injury this side of Christmas.
Real Madrid: Lunin; Vazquez, Militao, Rudiger, Mendy; Bellingham, Tchouameni, Valverde; Camavinga, Mbappe, Vinicius Jr
AC Milan: Maignan; Terracciano, Tomori, Pavlovic, Hernandez; Fofana, Reijnders; Loftus-Cheek, Pulisic, Leao; Morata
Anything else catch the eye?
Backing Real Madrid to win alongside the aforementioned Vinicius Junior to have one or more shots on target will boost the odds up to an appetising 19/20 on UniBet.
This Bet Builder would have proven profitable in each of Real Madrid’s two victories in this season's Champions League to date.
What's more, the same combination has also clicked in four of the star-studded hosts' last five victories in La Liga.
This UEFA Champions League match between Real Madrid and AC Milan will be played on Nov 5, 2024 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Real Madrid vs AC Milan prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
