Football Bet of the Day: Mbappe and Madrid know what it takes

Real Madrid take on Bayern Munich in a blockbuster Champions League quarter final clash (20:00 BST, TNT Sports 1/HBO Max). With the modern format still catching plenty of flak, it is heartening to have a monster clash to savour as we enter the last eight.

Read on as we head to the Bernabeu for our Football Bet of the Day.

Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich Odds

The competition’s two top scorers meet in this mouthwatering quarter final. Mbappe has bagged 13 goals in this season’s Champions League. Bayern frontman Harry Kane has scored 10 times, though we should add that Anthony Gordon has done the same before any Newcastle fans attack us in the comments. Why aye man, and such.

I like Mbappe to add to his total in this one. The match is on home turf at the Bernabeu and, no matter what is happening off the pitch, Los Blancos usually summon up something special when they’re chasing Ol’ Big Ears.

The off-field turbulence seems to have abated in Madrid. The return of club legend Xabi Alonso, this time in the manager’s seat, went about as well as most non-Carlo Ancelotti appointments. The former Bayer Leverkusen boss was let go in a hail of political gunfire. Same old Real.

But being the same old Real also means that the La Liga giants have a very good chance of walking out with a win against the runaway Bundesliga leaders. Sure, Real haven’t been ruthless in this year’s competition. A 4-2 loss to Benfica on the final day of the league stage condemned the record-holding Champions League winners to a play-off. 

But Los Blancos disposed of the same Portuguese side 1-0 away and 2-1 at home to reach the round of 16. A Federico Valverde hat-trick lit up the first leg against Manchester City. A 2-1 win at the Etihad in the second indicated a Madrid side warming into a competition that means more to them than any other club.

Bayern have been ruthless, admittedly. Only Arsenal beat them in the league stage and Atalanta were walloped 10-2 on aggregate in the round of 16. But Vincent Kompany’s men are winning the league at a canter. Augsburg’s January upset is the only time they have tasted defeat domestically this term.

Which plays right into Real’s hands. With no disrespect intended, it is a long time since Bayern faced a team who could truly challenge them. Their November win over PSG is probably the last time they beat a side who could reasonably be assessed as existing on their level.

Real, meanwhile, are buoyed by new boss Alvaro Arbeloa. They lost at the weekend to Mallorca. But it’s never about what’s happened in the league with this lot. I expect the cold-eyed precision Los Blancos have ridden to 15 Champions League titles to carry them through this home leg. And I expect their sharpshooting French wonder, Kylian Mbappe, to lead the charge at 11/4.