With the knockout phase of the 2024/25 Champions League fast approaching the pressure was building on some big names and one in the particular, 2024 champions Real Madrid, had a must-not-lose game away to Serie A leaders Atalanta.
It was one of our SBOTOP picks of the week and it turned out to be a pre-Christmas cracker as the two teams traded blow for blow before Los Blancos eventually came out on the right side of a five goal thriller. Carlo Ancelotti’s team desperately needed the three points after losing three of their first five games and they delivered against an Atalanta side which has been in scintillating form. with nine wins on the bounce in all competitions.
Kylian Mbappe scored his 50th Champions League goal, and his 12th for Real since joining in the summer, with a smart finish to give Los Blancos an early lead; but La Dea hit back through Charles de Ketelaere with a penalty on the stroke of half time. Mbappe looked to have picked up a knock and he was replaced by Rodrygo, and it was his Brazilian team-mate Vinicius Junior who restored Los Blancos’ lead with a clever finish. Madrid fans will have been delighted to see Vinicius return with a goal after a hamstring injury kept him out for much of the last month; and there was more good news in the improving form of Jude Bellingham who got onto the score-sheet to make it 3-1.
Atalanta hit back through Ademola Lookman, with his 11th goal of the campaign and La Dea threw everything at their visitors but Real Madrid held out for a famous victory. The win moved Ancelotti’s team up to 18th while Atalanta finished the game in ninth place on 11 points.
The Champions League 2024 betting odds have been moving away from Madrid but this was a brilliant return to form and they are still in with a chance of making the top eight automatic qualifiers, or at least finish in the top 16 which would give them home advantage in the second leg of a play-off.
English teams looking strong
In other Champions League 2024 news Liverpool manager Arne Slot was not best pleased with his team after they beat Girona 1-0. Slot is not an easy man to keep happy it seems, as the Reds are riding high at the top of the Premier League and now they are well clear at the top of the UEFA Champions League table too. To be fair to Slot, his team made hard work of the Catalans and keeper Alisson was busier than he would have liked on his return from injury, but Liverpool made it six wins from six thanks to a VAR awarded penalty. Donny Van de Beek was adjudged to have fouled Luis Diaz and Mo Salah, who is joint leader in the race for the Premier League Golden Boot, converted from the spot.
With Manchester City and Arsenal in decent shape and playing on Wednesday night, the English flag was waved by Aston Villa who earned a thrilling 3-2 victory away to Red Bull Leipzig, a result which took Unai Emery’s Villains up to third place. John McGinn gave them an early lead but Lois Openda took advantage of an error by keeper Emi Martinez to level for Red Bull. Two substitutes won the game for the visitors as Jhon Duran made it 2-1 with a beautiful curling shot and, after Christoph Baumgartner had leveled again, Ross Barkley popped up with a late winner thanks to a wicked deflection.
Liverpool are home and dry and Aston Villa are in great shape to qualify automatically; and it matters where they finish up as the lower a team finishes in the top eight, the more chance they have of meeting a team which finishes in ninth or tenth.
Werkself get the upper hand on Inter
Bayer Leverkusen’s clash with Inter Milan pitched together the reigning Bundesliga and Serie A champions and it was the Germans who came out on top in this tussle; and the 1-0 win moved Leverkusen up to third place, leapfrogging I Nerazzurri in the process. Die Werkself had plenty of chances but it took until the 90th minute for them to finally broke the deadlock through defender Nordi Mukiele. Former Burnley forward Nathan Tella hit a post early in the game and both Florian Wirtz and Jonathan Tah came close, and when the goal came it wasn’t pretty, as Mukiele slammed the ball home after an almighty goalmouth scramble.
It was the first goal conceded by Inter and their first defeat in the competition; and quite a statement from Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen who are also on the climb in their domestic title defence.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
