Real Madrid take on Swiss side Basle in their opening group game of the Champions League tonight and are looking to put the poor domestic form behind them.
Los Blancos have lost twice in their first three matches in La Liga as well as the Spanish Supercopa. But they will be looking to carry on from where they left off in the Champions League in May.
Last season, Carlo Ancelotti’s team earned some emphatic wins, and not just in the final itself. They also saw off Bayern Munich with relative ease in the semi-final and had some big wins in the group stage, notably against Galatasaray.
Bookmakers have the home side a 1/10 to pick up the three points, while Basle are considered rank outsiders at 20/1 to be triumphant in the Spanish capital. A draw is available at odds of around 15/2.
Real Madrid, and Ronaldo in particular, had few problems scoring in this competition last season, and recorded an average of more than three per game. It is little surprise then that they are at 8/15 to score more than 2.5 goals again tonight.
Cristiano Ronaldo broke the goalscoring record in the competition last season, netting 17 times in all. He can be found at 5/6 to open the scoring again tonight.
Comment: the players should work harder to improve their games.