The final Round of 16 games in the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League will be played this week and on Tuesday the 16th of March we have a meeting between Real Madrid and Atalanta.
The hosts come into the match with a narrow 1-0 lead from the first leg and the away goal will give Real Madrid some comfort as they take on the Italians at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stéfano.
Real Madrid recorded a 2-1 home victory against Elche in La Liga on the weekend and that result keeps them 6 points behind the leaders, Atletico Madrid. It was far from a convincing performance by Zinedine Zidane’s team and they needed a late goal from Karim Benzema to secure maximum points.
This season has not been without difficulty for Real Madrid in the Champions League and they suffered two defeats at the hands of Shakhtar Donetsk in the group stage of the competition.
However, despite winning only 3 of their 6 matches, Real Madrid finished top of the group on 10 points.
Interestingly, trends show Real Madrid have won only 3 of their 9 most recent home Champions League fixtures.
Both teams have scored in 4 of their last 5 home Champions League games but Real Madrid have been scoring plenty of goals of their own. In fact, Real Madrid have scored 2 or more goals in 6 of their last 7 Champions League matches on home soil.
Atalanta continued their pursuit of a top four place in Italy on the weekend as they defeated Spezia 3-1 at home.
It was important to get back to winning ways following the 1-0 loss at Inter Milan in their previous Serie A fixture and Atalanta still have a great chance of playing Champions League football again next season.
However, their chances of progressing to the quarter final in this campaign took a hit as they lost 1-0 at home to Real Madrid in the first leg of this tie. Having had a man sent off in the 17th minute, it was always going to be difficult for Atalanta to win the game but they came extremely close to securing a draw until the 86th minute, when Real Madrid scored.
Atalanta have been inconsistent in the Champions League this season and they have won 3 of their 7 games. There have been two draws and two defeats but Atalanta have a great away record in the Champions League, winning each of their last 5 away fixtures in the competition.
Trends show Atalanta have scored in each of their last 6 away Champions League games and scored 2 or more goals in 4 of their last 5 on the road.
Team news and Real Madrid will be without the injured quartet of Álvaro Odriozola, Marcelo, Mariano Diaz, and Daniel Carvajal. Central defender and captain, Sergio Ramos, is available following injury.
Atalanta will travel without the suspended Remo Freuler. Hans Hateboer has a foot injury and is unlikely to be available for the visitors.
Having won the first leg away from home, Real Madrid must come into this match as the favourites to win. We expect to see them score at least 2 goals on their way through to the quarter-final.