As the UEFA 2015-16 Champions League continues and now moves on to the 1st Leg of Round 16 on Wednesday the 17th of February the 2nd game of the day has the A.S. Roma of Italy playing the Real Madrid of Spain (3rd in La Liga) with the game being played at Stadio Olimpico in Roma, Italy with the kick-off UEFA Champions League scheduled for 2:45 PM ET.
For those that Bet on Soccer at SBG Global or like sports betting sites, the early odds had the Real Madrid favored at -130 on the Money Line with the Total at under 3 -130 and on the Goal Line -1/2 -130 while A.S. Roma is at +345 on the ML and on the GL at +1/2 +110.
Actually Roma is lucky to still be in this tournament after they struggled so much in the group stage, precisely defensively. But lately they seem to be improving same, and under the lead of a new manager L. Spalletti, but they have stepped up their performances enough to be facing Real Madrid in this 1st UEFA Champions League Leg of round 16.
Yes, their putting it together and coming out of a slump since their new manager took over for R. Garcia, starting with a loss and a draw, but have won their ultimate 4 games consecutively and have moved up to 4th in the ranking. Their new manager has amassed a talented group with M. Pjanic, S. El Shaarawy and M. Salah with El Shaarawy being loan signed via AC Milan in the transfer window of January and he has become a star performer in the last 4 Roma wins in which he had an assist and 2 goals.
It’s expected that this Roma team will play much stronger in their UEFA Champions League home game, since that’s their best change for a win. The talent that Salah and El Shaarawy will be a big weapon for this Roma team facing Real Madrid who are not know to be the best defenders of the wings, where the Roma stars like to roam.
The Real Madrid fans are aware that their team also had a recent change in the coaches as R. Benitez was released and Z. Zidane took the lead in the beginning of January 2016. Since Zidane took the helm, the team in their ultimate 6 games, have not had a loss as they have 5 wins and a draw and in four of the games scored at least 4 goals.
Yes, it may be tough for Zidane to improve his team’s record presently, since his team in 6 Group A games were with 5 wins and a draw, and received 16 points, and that +16 goal difference tied them with Bayern Munich the German giants.
Their star C. Ronaldo is still maintaining his top performances in this Champions League this season, as their superstar from Portugal is leading the charts for scoring, as in 6 games he has scored some 11 goals. The main strategy of Coach Zidane was to improve the team balance that had been lacking for some time, and now he has G. Bale out with a leg injury, but has plenty of talent on the bench to make up for Bale not starting.
The team has performed very well at home at the Bernabeu having scored some 49 goals, but in away games they have only accumulated some 21 in League play. However, in this away game at Roma they will seek to get past the Roma defense that has struggled during this tournament.
The online wagering prediction for the 1st Leg Round of 16 game between Roma and Real Madrid will see Ronaldo score as Real Madrid overcomes Roma 2-1 going into the 2nd leg with the advantage.