Napoli vs Real Madrid Champions League Matchday 2 Betting Preview

Champions League matchday two officially begins on Tuesday and we’ll have a compelling fixture on our hands as 14-time winners Real Madrid head to Italy to face the Scudetto holders Napoli. The kick-off is scheduled for 3 PM ET at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Naples. Both sides won their opening games of the competition, beating Braga and Union Berlin, respectively. Below, we’ll discuss head-to-head history and dive into the recent form for Napoli and Madrid. 

Madrid has upper hand over Napoli

This will be the fifth time these two clubs will lock horns in Europe’s most prized competition. Los Blancos is unbeaten, winning three times and settling for a draw. They took down Napoli 6-2 on aggregate in the Round of 16 six years ago. They also met in the late 80s twice.

Napoli in good form

The Serie A champions have been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons after they exposed talisman Victor Osimhen on TikTok with a disrespectful video where the club appeared to mock the Nigerian. But, Osimhen expressed his love for Napoli after the entire situation went down and hopefully, The Blues can move past the drama.

🚨 OFFICIAL: Victor Osimhen personal statement about Napoli & his situation.

“Coming to the City of Naples in 2020 was a wonderful decision for me. The People of Napoli have shown me so much love and kindness, and I will not allow anyone to come between us”.

“The passion of the… pic.twitter.com/mFHdySp0fT

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 1, 2023

Rudi Garcia’s side is off to a respectable start domestically, compiling a 4-2-1 record which is good enough for third place at the moment. And coming into Tuesday’s important meeting with Madrid, they’re unbeaten in five games. Napoli just hammered Lecce 4-0 on Saturday, with Osimhen coming on as a second-half substitute and immediately proving his worth with a goal in the 51st minute. Leo Skiri Ostigard, Gianluca Gaetano, and Matteo Politano all found the back of the net as well. 

During this impressive run of results, Napoli has also beaten Udinese and Braga. The latter wasn’t so convincing though on matchday one of the Champions League as the Portuguese outfit pushed them to the absolute brink. It took an own goal from Braga to decide that match. Regardless, online betting sites are giving the hosts a respectable chance to find a result Tuesday with the same odds as Real.

The Bellingham show

Los Blancos went out in the summer and bought one of the brightest young talented in the world in Jude Bellingham and so far, he’s been arguably their best player. Not typically known as a goal-scorer, the Englishman has netted seven times and tallied a pair of assists in eight matches across all competitions. He’s scored several goals at the death and bagged the winner against Union Berlin in injury time two weeks ago to help Carlo Ancelotti’s side secure the full three points in their UCL opener.

Then on the weekend, Madrid had the chance to go top of LaLiga with a win over Girona, who were occupying first place. And thanks to Bellingham once again, Los Blancos notched the victory as he banged in a beautiful volley from inside the box. He also set up the first goal with a mouth-watering assist.

This Jude Bellingham trivela assist on repeat.pic.twitter.com/NOMTMsEDLi

— TC (@totalcristiano) October 1, 2023

For the most part, Real has been untouchable this term aside from their shocking 3-1 defeat in the Madrid derby against Atletico. In eight LaLiga matches, Ancelotti’s squad has scored 16 goals and conceded just six. Three of those came in the derby. Napoli isn’t an easy side to face by any means, but Madrid should feel confident about grabbing three points in Italy, especially considering their history of success versus the Serie A giants. They have +160 odds at 888sport, which offers quite a bit of value for bettors.