Real Madrid vs Juventus: Tips, Odds, and Match Preview

Two European powerhouses are destined for an early knockout clash at Hard Rock Stadium, Florida. Although advancing from the group stages was never really in doubt, neither Real Madrid nor Juventus really shined in the Club World Cup so far, and one of them will pack their bags and book a flight home much earlier than expected.

Real Madrid

The Spanish titan had quite an eventful group stage outing. A last-minute penalty (missed), an early red card (deserved), and a back-heel assist (Vini Jr.) are just some of Madrid's highlight moments on the tour.

The match day one—incidentally, Xabi Alonso's first game in Los Blanco's dugout, was a lukewarm draw to Al Hilal, made all the worse by the 7th-minute red card in the next game against Pachuca. But the 10-men Madrid rallied and won the game comfortably, putting themselves in a good position for the Salzburg decider. Which, of course, they won with aplomb 3:0.

Real Madrid started the Club World Cup as bookie's favourites to lift the trophy but has since fallen in the pecking order behind PSG and Man City. Juve, for comparison, is eighth.

Real Madrid Injury & Suspension News

Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, David Alaba, Eduardo Camavinga, Ferland Mendy, and Endrick remain sidelined with injuries. However, Kylian Mbappe, who missed the group stage due to a bad case of gastroenteritis, is expected to make a return for the knockouts.

Juventus to Bounce Back

The Bianconeri opened the tour as well as they had hoped for. Igor Tudor's men dispatched both Al Ain and Wydad FC with a combined goal difference of 9:1. The star man Kenan Yıldız was firing on all cylinders, and things were looking good for the Old Lady.

But then the Man City game came about—the first real test of the tournament. In the bid to top Group G, Juventus not only lost the game to Pep Guardiola's side but they were humiliated by the 5:2 scoreline, which, really, could have been even more.

The loss to Man City obliged the Bianconeri to a clash with Real Madrid, with whom they had played 21 times before. The La Liga outfit has one more win, 10 compared to Juventus' 9.

Juventus Injury & Suspension News

Mattia Perin, Juan Cabal, Bremer, and Arkadiusz Milik remain a doubt for Tudor. Meanwhile, explosive midfielder Khephren Thuram and left-back Andrea Cambiaso, who sat out the Man City clash, are expected to start the game.

Real Madrid vs Juventus Prediction

Both teams saved their best punch for the knockouts. Tudor experimented with the squad (and got much flack for it), while Xabi Alonso took time to gel with the team.

Their last clash was a knife's edge 4:3 aggregate win for Madrid in the 2018 UCL quarter-finals. More importantly, six of their last seven games ended with three goals or more, and that's what I'm expecting to go down this time around.

CryptoGamba tip: Over 2.5 goals – 1.74 @Ybets