Real Madrid vs. Chelsea Betting Tips: Best bets from the Bernabeu

Real Madrid take on Chelsea in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final tie on Wednesday evening and Scott Thornton is on hand with two tips for the game. 

Real Madrid continue their quest to retain the Champions League this week. They are facing a Chelsea side that are in crisis after they were beaten by Wolves at the weekend. It would take a miraculous turnaround for the Blues to overcome the undisputed kings of Europe in this tie.

Real Madrid have been off the pace in La Liga this season. Despite facing an uphill battle in the title race, they showed just how formidable they can be when they secured a 4-0 win at the Nou Camp; earning their place in the final of the Copa Del Rey. Carlo Ancelotti has cemented his place as one of the greatest managers and his side have a real chance of adding to their haul of 14 Champions Leagues.

These sides contested a great tie in last season’s competition but it has been all change at Chelsea since then. Roman Abramovich has departed and the fans have been left to bemoan the departure of Thomas Tuchel. The popular German manager is now at Bayern Munich while Chelsea seek a manager who can take them forward. Frank Lampard has been brought back to the club to steady the ship. However,  he will have to show a level of tactical nous we have not seen from him in order to win at the Bernabeu.

Frank Lampard will have to rely on his man-management and status as a Chelsea legend to get the most from his players. Chelsea will be highly motivated coming into this one and I expect them to get stuck in to the tackles up and down the pitch.

Chelsea’s matches this season are averaging 39.35 tackles per game. Their away matches in the Champions League are averaging 39.75 tackles per game. Lampard’s first match of his return may have ended in frustration but there were still a whopping 49 tackles in the match. Chelsea’s energetic and talented squad should be involved in another combative game here as they seek to salvage something from their season.

When these teams met at the Bernabeu last season, there were 45 tackles inside the 90 minutes of regular time. There were a further 16 tackles in extra time.

We are going to couple our tackles angle with match free kicks. Both of these sides have players who like to dribble with the ball and possess the technical ability to cause problems for any defence. The likes of Felix, Vinicius, Mudryk and Sterling are adept and drawing fouls; this should help us out on Wednesday night.

Chelsea matches in the Champions League this season are averaging 28 fouls per game. This is the most of any team from the start of the group stages; significantly more than the 25.38 fouls per game averaged by the team (AC Milan) in second in the fouls rankings.

Bet 365’s free kicks market also includes offsides. Chelsea matches in this competition are averaging 3.88 offsides per game. Madrid’s are averaging 2.5 per game. This should help further the free kick count for this bet.

For our longshot bet, we are going to take the same angles as the main bet but with increased lines.

Chelsea’s tackles average is extremely high and the nature of this game makes a higher line very appealing. 

The referee in charge of this one has already officiated one Chelsea game this season. Francois Letexier took charge of their  home match against Dinamo Zagreb. He gave 33 fouls in that match. Real Madrid’s last Champions League home match against Liverpool saw 31 free kicks awarded.