Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid: Preview & Analysis

Real Madrid are hunting ‘La Decima’ - what would be an historic 10th Champions League title. It would also be a third personal triumph for Jose Mourinho who has previously tasted European glory with Porto and Inter Milan.

Borussia are just pleased to be here for the first time since 1998; they won the trophy the year before that for the one and only time. We take a look at some specific betting markets to see where the value may lie.

Home Advantage

The Germans have won all five of their Champions League fixtures at Westfalenstadion this season, including against Madrid, so best odds of 9/5 (Bet365) on the home win look frankly incorrect. Real have conceded in every away outing in this season’s competition and have also lost five consecutive trips to Germany in European competition.

Over 3.5 goals in the match

It’s hard to imagine a tight encounter as both these teams are primed for attack. Real Madrid’s 10 matches to date have produced 37 goals at an average of 3.7 per game so best odds of 2/1 (WilliamHill) on there being over 3.5 goals on Wednesday look appealing. The two group-stage fixtures between these clubs produced seven goals in total so we look to be in the right ball-park with this potential bet.

First Goalscorer

Cristiano Ronaldo has so many more shots than everybody else that he’s never going to look an unattractive option to break the deadlock; he is a 7/2 (Betfred) shot here. The Portuguese star has 11 CL goals already in 2012-13 - three more than anybody else. The 28-year-old has had a staggering 49 attempts on target. To put that in perspective, even Lionel Messi has only had 27.