Atalanta welcome Real Madrid to the Gewiss Stadium on Wednesday for the first leg of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie.
Atalanta thrashed Napoli 4-2 on Sunday, while Real Madrid claimed a narrow 1-0 victory over Valladolid on Saturday.
A three-match unbeaten run – two wins and one draw – means that Atalanta have moved back into the top four in the Serie A table.
However, Gian Pierro Gasperini’s men remain ten points behind league leaders Inter Milan, so the title is probably out of reach this term.
Earlier in the campaign, Atalanta came through a potentially tricky Champions League group to reach the knockout stages.
The Italians beat Midtjylland, Liverpool and Ajax on their way to finishing second in Group D – two points behind Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Just like the past couple of seasons, Atalanta have been scoring lots of goals this term. But they have also conceded plenty.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid have won each of their previous four matches, closing the gap on La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid.
Not so long ago, Zinedine Zidane’s men were miles behind their rivals. But they now find themselves just three points off top spot.
It is also worth pointing out the Real Madrid kept three straight clean sheets during that period, scoring over 1.5 goals on three occasions.
Zidane’s side survived a scare during the Champions League group stage, suffering two defeats to Shakhtar Donetsk.
However, three victories and a draw saw Real Madrid eventually finish two points clear at the top of Group B.
Head-to-head: This is the first competitive meetings between Atalanta and Real Madrid, meaning there are no previous results to assess for this fixture.
Still, Atalanta can take confidence from the fact that they knocked out another Spanish team – Valencia – in last season’s Round of 16, sealing an 8-4 aggregate victory.
Team news: Dutch right-back Hans Hateboer is Atalanta’s only injury concern heading into Wednesday's clash.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid’s injury list is extensive, with Rodrygo, Sergio Ramos, Federico Valverde, Eden Hazard, Dani Carvajal, Marcelo, Eder Militao, Alvaro Odriozola and Karim Benzema all unavailable.
Gasperini’s Atlanta are renowed for being involved in high-scoring games. In fact, six of their last 11 games in all competitions have produced over 3.5 goals.
With that in mind, Forebet predicts that Atlanta and Real Madrid will produced over 3.5 goals on Wednesday, with the draw looking like the most probable outcome.