Arguably the most hotly anticipated UEFA Champions League Last 16 tie takes place on Tuesday as Liverpool host Real Madrid in the first leg at Anfield.
The teams last met in the 2021/22 Champions League Final, with Los Blancos 1-0 winners. The Reds will be looking gain revenge for that disappointing loss and go into the match in good form.
Bet9ja Ambassador Victor Ikpeba gives his views on this huge match and how he sees it going.
VI: After big wins against Everton and Newcastle, you can’t write Liverpool off against Real Madrid.
The good thing for Liverpool is players coming into form at the right time. Cody Gakpo initially struggled after signing from PSV in January. You could tell that he was struggling to fit into the team and took time to get used to playing with new teammates, which is usually a problem when you bring in new players.
But the Dutch international now has two goals in his last two matches, after scoring against Everton and Newcastle. He has a lot of quality and now has the confidence after putting the ball in the back of the net in recent games. The same can be said of Darwin Nunez, who scored his first English Premier League goal of 2023 in the 2-0 win at Newcastle.
So these two players scoring is very good timing for Liverpool and they can make life difficult against a very solid and experienced Real Madrid side, who are beatable in my opinion.
It’s going to be tough because Real Madrid are the defending champions and really wouldn’t want to lose in just the second round of the competition. So it’s going to be a very interesting tie.
But on paper, I’m going to have to go with a Real Madrid win at Anfield. Of course, players are coming back from injury for Liverpool, including Virgil van Dijk, Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino.
Although Real Madrid will be missing Toni Krooos and Aurelien Tchouameni, they still have a very strong midfield with the likes of Luka Modric and Eduardo Camavinga.
Looking at form, Real Madrid are flying with four wins in four, including winning the Club World Cup and they have the winning mentality when it comes to these kinds of matches, just look how they beat PSG and Manchester City from nowhere, in last season’s competition. That’s why I think they will be too strong for Liverpool.
Victor’s prediction: Real Madrid win. Bet9ja odds (at time of writing): 3.05
