Two of Europe’s most storied clubs go head-to-head once again at the Santiago Bernabéu on Wednesday night, as Real Madrid welcome Juventus for another chapter in their famous Champions League rivalry.
The two teams have met 21 times before in Europe’s top competition, including two finals in 1998 and 2017, both of which were won by Real Madrid.
After leading Bayer Leverkusen to the Europa League final in 2024, Xabi Alonso now has his sights set on conquering Europe’s biggest stage with Real Madrid. His start to life in this year’s Champions League could hardly have gone better with two games, and two wins.
Madrid edged past Marseille 2-1 in their opening fixture before thrashing Kairat Almaty 5-0 away from home on matchday two. Kylian Mbappé stole the show in Kazakhstan, scoring a brilliant hat-trick to help the 15-time European champions cruise to victory and strengthen their push for a top-eight finish in the league phase.
The Bernabéu has been a fortress in recent seasons. Madrid have won 12 of their last 13 home matches in the group or league stage of the Champions League, with their only defeat in that run coming against AC Milan two years ago.
They come into this clash in strong domestic form too, having beaten Getafe 1-0 at the weekend thanks to another decisive Mbappé strike. That result kept them top of La Liga, two points ahead of Barcelona, just days before the first El Clásico of the season.
Before turning their attention to that high-stakes meeting with their Catalan rivals, Madrid must handle Juventus — a side they last faced in the dramatic 2018 quarter-final. That tie saw Los Blancos win 3-0 in Turin with a Cristiano Ronaldo masterclass, only for Juve to nearly pull off a comeback in Madrid before a late Ronaldo penalty sealed a 4-3 aggregate win for the Spaniards.
Since those memorable encounters, Juventus have struggled to maintain their former European status. Cristiano Ronaldo has long departed, and the club’s performances in the Champions League have faded with him. Last season, the Bianconeri finished 20th in the league phase before being knocked out by PSV Eindhoven in the playoff round.
Now under Igor Tudor, Juventus are desperate to return to the knockout rounds but have already made a shaky start. Two chaotic draws have left them with work to do.
On matchday one, they came from the brink of defeat to salvage a remarkable 4-4 draw against Borussia Dortmund, scoring twice in stoppage time. But their luck ran out in matchday two, when former Juve loanee Renato Veiga struck late for Villarreal to make it 2-2 at El Madrigal.
That game extended Juventus’ frustrating streak of five consecutive draws, their longest in nearly 20 years and they’ve now shared the spoils in five of their last seven Champions League matches.
Adding to their woes, the Bianconeri lost 2-0 to newly promoted Como in Serie A last weekend, dropping to fifth in the standings. With just one win from their last 11 away games in Europe, Tudor’s side face a huge challenge as they head to Madrid’s intimidating home ground.
INJURIES & SUSPENSION
Real Madrid will have to cope with several defensive absences when they host Juventus on Wednesday night. Antonio Rüdiger and Dani Carvajal are both ruled out, while former Juve centre-back Dean Huijsen remains a doubt. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ferland Mendy have returned to training but are unlikely to be risked, with Sunday’s El Clásico against Barcelona looming large.
There’s also concern over David Alaba, who was forced off midway through the weekend’s win over Getafe with a calf issue after making his first La Liga start of the season. He was replaced by Raúl Asencio, and his availability will depend on a late fitness check. Meanwhile, midfielder Dani Ceballos missed that game entirely but could make a return to the squad for this midweek fixture.
As always, Kylian Mbappé will be Real Madrid’s main attacking threat. The French superstar leads the Champions League scoring charts with five goals so far and will be looking to add to his tally against the Italian visitors.
Juventus, on the other hand, are still trying to find consistency in attack. Igor Tudor is expected to start Francisco Conceição and Kenan Yildiz just behind a lone striker, with Dusan Vlahović and Jonathan David competing for the central role — the latter famously scored the winning goal for Lille against Madrid last season.
Defensively, the Bianconeri will again be without key centre-back Bremer and left-back Juan Cabal. However, there’s some positive news as Fabio Miretti has returned to training, and Edon Zhegrova could make the bench after recovering from injury.
It also remains to be seen whether Tudor sticks with the back four he used in Sunday’s match, having deviated from his usual 3-4-2-1 formation — a tactical switch that may influence how Juventus approach this high-stakes clash at the Bernabéu.
POSSIBLE LINE-UPS
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Valverde, Militao, Asencio, Carreras; Tchouameni, Camavinga; Mastantuono, Guler, Vinicius; Mbappe
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Di Gregorio; Gatti, Rugani, Kelly; Kalulu, Thuram, Koopmeiners, Cambiaso; Conceicao, Yildiz; David
EXPERT PREDICTIONS
Real Madrid 2-1 Juventus
