Skip to main content

UEFA Champions League 2018/19: Real Madrid v AS Roma - Match Preview

By

Real Madrid starts the defense of their Champions League title, a trophy they've won a record 13 times, with a home match against AS Roma. Los Blancos can be perceived to be weaker than the all-conquering team that ruled Europe for the past three years.


Shortly after winning their third Champions League title on the trot iconic manager Zinedine Zidane stepped down and the undisputed king of the UCL Cristiano Ronaldo joining Juventus over the summer. A chink in their armor of supremacy in Europe is surely present as can be read from the fact that they lost the UEFA Supercup crown to fierce rivals.
Putting that debut loss behind them Julen Lopetegui's white army has started off positively in La Liga winning 3, drawing 1 and gathering 10 points in the progress. Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema have struck top form early on this season and will be looking to extend their exploits into the Champions League tonight.
Roma had one of their best ever run in the Champions League last time around reaching the semi-finals overcoming strong favorites Barcelona in the quarterfinals. Their dramatic comeback at home overturning a 4-1 deficit against Barcelona was one of the fairytale stories of last season.


All that seems a distant time ago as they have had an abysmal start to their Serie A campaign winning only one of their opening four matches. 

Real Madrid v AS Roma: Prediction 
Both teams have a history of playing out high scoring matches. It looks to be a mouthwatering tie at the Santiago Bernabéu. But you have to a fool to bet against Real Madrid in a Champions League tie. My prediction is that Madrid are going to do what they do best, run havoc in the Champions League.
Real Madrid 4-1 AS Roma (Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema to get a brace apiece)

Real Madrid v AS Roma: Team News
Both teams do not have any major injury worries ahead of their Champions League opener. Real Madrid is still without Jesus Vallejo. Roma will be without Javier Pastore, who picked up an injury over the weekend. And they are without Ante Coric. No suspensions for this match for either side.
But it is interesting to note the Julen Lopetegui has fielded a different XI In all his 5 matches as Real Madrid manager. So it will be a question of who will be given a nod and who will be shown the bench. For Roma, the starting XI looks to be pretty straightforward.
Real Madrid v AS Roma: Predicted XI
Real Madrid: Courtois, Marcelo, Ramos, Varane, Carvajal; Modric, Casemiro, Kroos; Asensio, Benzema, Bale
Roma: Olsen; Florenzi, Manolas, Juan Jesus, Kolarov; Pellegrini, N'Zonzi, Cristante; Under, Dzeko, El Shaarawy

Real Madrid v AS Roma: Match Details
Date : 20/09/18
Time : 12.30 a.m (IST)
Venue : Santiago Bernabéu


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Spain unbeaten 38-match run ends as England records their first win in Spain since 1987

By
The day that saw a host of records being re-written in Benito Villamarin, England defeated Spain 3-2 in the UEFA Nations League match.  The match started with Gareth Southgate's cruising to a 3-0 lead at half-time that saw Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling scoring the first goal, his first goal for the Three Lions since his goal against Estonia on the 10th of October 2015, in the 16th minute with Marcus Rashfording adding the second in the 29th minute and Sterling completing his double in the 38th minute. Raheem Sterling was rewarded with the man of the match after scoring a brace, his first goal since 2015 (Source: Getty Images) The Spanish Armada was stunned by the pace of the English side as they tried desperately to keep the young lions at bay in the first half. The second half saw the 2008 World Cup winners enjoying much more space and freedom as they started to crawl back into the match with ono-form striker Paco Alcacer heading one in the 58th minute to make i...
Post a Comment
Read more

5 ways in which Kerala Blaster can line-up in the Toyota Yaris LaLiga World Tournament

By
Source: Manoramaonline.com With Kerala Blasters set to take on A-League side Melbourne City at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi in the Toyota Yaris LaLiga World pre-season friendly tournament, the first of its kind in India, Let's quickly take a look at the 5 possible formations in which the Kerala Blasters can line-up in the upcoming tournament.   1. 3-1-4-2 Last season saw David James reverting the Kerala Blasters from a 4 man defence under Rene Meulensteen to a 3-man defence with Wes Brown, Sandesh Jhingan and Lalruathara occupying the 3 central back position. Former Indian U17 goalkeeper Dheeraj Singh might be picked up as the first choice keeper ahead of the more experienced Naveen Kumar while James might look upon new signing Anas Edathodika, club captain Sandesh Jhingan and Lalruathara or Nemanja Lakic-Pesic or new foreign recruit Cyril Kali to make the back three. The defensive midfielder ahead of the 3-man defence is the only position that t...
Post a Comment
Read more

15 Leading goalscorers in the Serie A: 12-15

By
Scudetto is given to the winner of the Serie A The Italian league has always been considered one of the toughest leagues in the world. Known for their defensive playing styles, the teams from Italy have won a total of 12 Europeans Cups since their inception. Despite the defence-oriented style of play in the Italian league, some of the World' greatest have made their mark on the Italian soil like Maradona, Del Pierro, Totti and so on. After years of being under the radar, Serie A has once again proving its self to be the breeding ground of the world's best after the exposure given to the league following the arrival of one Cristiano Ronaldo in Juventus. Here is the list of leading goalscorers in the history of the Seria A. 15. Giuseppe Savoldi - 168 goals The first player to break the million mark in transfer fee The Bergamo-born striker spent his entire professional career in Italy. Savoldi started his career at his hometown club of Atalanta and had two dif...
Post a Comment
Read more