Champions League: Real Madrid Ready to Get Revenge on Sheriff

Sheriff Tiraspol vs Real Madrid

Real Madrid will have revenge on their minds when they visit FC Sheriff in Matchday 5 of the UEFA Champions League.

The Spanish giants suffered a humiliating 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Sheriff in their first meeting back in September.

However, Real have been in fantastic form ever since, and the Champions League 2021 betting odds will have them as massive favourites to get their revenge in Moldova.

Talking Points

Real on an impressive unbeaten run

Real Madrid have come a long way since their rocky three-game stretch back in late September to early October. That was when they suffered their humiliating home defeat to Sheriff at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

Real have been much better ever since that rough patch, though. Carlo Ancelotti’s men are currently on a seven-game unbeaten run (six wins, one draw), which began with their 5-0 smashing of Shakhtar Donetsk. They beat Shakhtar again 2-1 in the reverse fixture at home, with star striker Karim Benzema scoring both goals.

Real’s dynamic duo in phenomenal form

Real Madrid will rely once more on Karim Benzema to win their upcoming Champions League match — Karim Benzema celebrates after scoring Real Madrid’s second goal against Shakhtar Donetsk at Santiago Bernabeu stadium

Last season, Real relied so heavily on Benzema to score their goals both in La Liga and in Europe. The good news for Real is that even at age 33, Benzema is still showing signs of slowing down. The French forward remains in fantastic form with 14 goals and 8 assists in 16 appearances for Real this season. His 10 goals and 7 assists lead La Liga in those two categories.

But the better news for Los Blancos is that Vinicius Jr is finally fulfilling his immense potential and is providing another source of goals besides Benzema. The Brazilian scored in Real’s 4-1 win over Granada over the weekend, his eighth league goal for Real in 13 games. That already matches his total in his first 82 La Liga games.

Vinicius has also added two goals and three assists in the Champions League as he is playing with so much more consistency this season instead of mere flashes.

Benzema and Vinicius combined for 11 shots in their shock loss to Sheriff, five of which were on target. But they are in significantly better form heading into this match, so they will fancy their chances of getting more goals.

Sheriff hoping lightning strikes twice

After a couple of shock Champions League 2021 results to start their campaign, there was talk that maybe Sheriff could steal a spot in the knockout round from either Real Madrid or Inter Milan.

However, that dream appears to be losing steam. They suffered back-to-back 3-1 defeats to Inter Milan as they dropped to third in Group D.

Sheriff came in as massive underdogs to qualify from their Champions League group, and the last two games were a reminder why. They are clearly lacking the quality that the likes of Inter Milan and Real Madrid possess and were thoroughly outplayed.

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There should be quite an atmosphere at the Stadionul Sheriff at Tiraspol as they host record European champions Real Madrid for the first time in their history.

However, Sheriff are unlikely to make too many tactical changes for their home game against Real. They will continue to play a significantly defensive game with Real dominating much of the ball and producing a very high number of chances. But after some fortunate breaks in Madrid, it remains to be seen whether Sheriff will be quite as lucky again at home.

History

This will be just the second meeting between FC Sheriff and Real Madrid. The first match did not end up at all how many had imagined.

Sheriff took a shock lead through Jarusbek Yakhshiboev after just 25 minutes. But after sustained pressure, Real finally got their equaliser through a Karim Benzema penalty.

However, Sheriff went on to complete the unlikely upset when Sebastien Thill struck a stunning shot past Thibaut Courtois in the 89th minute to hand the Moldovans all three points.

Betting Tip

	Sheriff Tiraspol vs Real Madrid	Real Madrid Asian Handicap -1.50 @ 1.69
	November 25, 4:00 (GMT+8)

SBOTOP odds have Real Madrid priced as massive 1.24 favourites to win at Tiraspol. Sheriff are at 10.50 to win, while a draw is at 5.80.

While Sheriff defied the odds once in Madrid, it’s highly unlikely that they will do so again, especially with Real in such fine form at the moment.

Look for Real – with Benzema and Vinicius leading the way – to exact some vengeance on their hosts en route to a comfortable away victory of at least two goals.