Atalanta vs. Real Madrid: Prediction, Preview & Betting Tips

This will be a hugely difficult game for Madrid. It's hard to back against them in this competition, especially when the chips are down, by Atalanta really are flying this season and with home advantage on their side, they'll be exceptionally tough to beat.

Still, though, these sides have played three times in their history, all since 2021, and Madrid have won all three games. Los Blancos have stabilised in their form, particularly since their defeat to AC Milan, and with the quality in their side, they should have enough for a draw at least.

Madrid really need a result here, so despite their imperfect displays this season, with think they'll take something back to Madrid. Atalanta 1-1 Real Madrid.

Real Madrid attempt to salvage their Champions League campaign this week as they take on Atalanta.

• Date: 10/12/2024
• Kick-off time: 20:00
• Location: Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia, Bergamo

The home side, Atalanta, are enjoying an excellent season, and there’s a significant amount of optimism surrounding the Bergamo-based club. In all honesty, that’s putting it mildly, because Gian Piero Gasperini’s men come into this game top of Serie A and 5th in the Champions League table - they’re also unbeaten in the Champions League - having not lost a game in Europe this season.

After winning the Europa League at the back end of last season, Atalanta have only gone from strength to strength, and having been on the periphery of a couple of league title races in recent years, there is a feeling that they might just have the tools to get the job done here.

It would be quite astounding for a club with a 24,000-seater stadium, in a city with only 121,000 residents, to become Serie A champions, but the fact they’re even involved in the conversation shows just how well run the club is, and what an excellent manager Gasperini is.

Atalanta have already lost to Real Madrid this season, a 2-0 defeat in the UEFA Super Cup at the start of the season, but the two sides’ campaigns have taken quite different trajectories since then, and despite the calibre of the opponent in front of them, Atalanta will be truly confident of pulling off a win here as they look towards automatic progression to the knockout round.

Real Madrid, though, have had a complete rollercoaster ride of a season. Madrid have fluctuated between periods of turmoil and periods of resurgence, and while they’re currently looking in a healthier position than they were a few weeks back, there are still huge problems that they need to solve.

Madrid are currently second in La Liga, trailing Barcelona by two points, with a game in hand, with Barcelona having led the way for the majority of the season. In fact, Madrid have done pretty well to close what was a much larger cap a couple of months ago, which is a sign that they’ve started to solve some of the issues that have been plaguing them.

Since Kylian Mbappé’s arrival in the summer, it’s fair to say that Madrid have struggled to get the best out of the Frenchman, but the issues have been the most blatant with both he and Vinícius Júnior on the pitch. When Mbappé and Vinícius both start together, there are two attackers on the pitch who deliver very little defensive effort, which makes the team extremely vulnerable to transition attacks, which has made Madrid look amateur defensively at times this season.

As a result, the likes of Jude Bellingham, who would normally contribute to the team’s attacking play, have to deliver added defensive efforts, which unbalances the team, especially because Mbappé and Vinícius often get in each other’s way since the two like to play in similar areas of the pitch. This is a conundrum that Carlo Ancelotti is going to have to solve pretty swiftly and it won’t be an easy one.

Real Madrid are currently 24th in the Champions League table with six points, four points shy of the automatic progression table, and if they want to finish in the top eight, they’re almost certainly going to have to win all three of their remaining games. Winning in Bergamo is a big ask, but it’s far from beyond a team of Madrid’s quality.

This game will be televised live to all subscribed UK viewers on TNT Sports 1.

Atalanta Team News:

Atalanta come into this game without Gianluca Scamacca, who continues his recovery from al ACL injury, while Davide Zappacosta remains on the sidelines.

Mateo Retegui will be hoping to return to the starting lineup, but after a good win at the weekend, Gasperinin might be tempted to go unchanged.

Predicted lineup: Carnesecchi; Djimsiti, Hien, Kolašinac; Bellanova, De Roon, Éderson, Ruggeri; Pašalić; De Ketelaere, Lookman.

Real Madrid Team News:

Jude Bellingham was withdrawn after an hour in Girona at the weekend, but Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed he'll be fit to start here.

Madrid's injury list, though, is still pretty significant, with Vinícius Júnior, Eduardo Camavinga, Éder Militão, Dani Carvajal and David Alaba all on the sidelines.

Predicted lineup: Courtois; Vázquez, Tchouaméni, Rüdiger, Mendy; Valverde, Modrić; Güler, Bellingham, Díaz; Mbappé.

Atalanta are coming into this game in excellent form having won all of their last five games. At the weekend, goals from Charles De Ketelaere and Ademola Lookmangave them a 2-1 win over AC Milan, a game that followed a comfortable 2-0 win over Roma, where Martin de Roon and Nicolò Zaniolo produced the three points.

Before that, Atalanta thrashed Young Boys 6-1 in this competition, with the goals coming from Mateo Retegui (X2), De Ketelaere (X2), Sead Kolašinac and Lazar Samardžić, which followed a 3-1 win away at Parma, courtesy of Retegui, Éderson and Lookman.

Those results all followed a 2-1 win over Udinese thanks to an own goal and a goal from Mario Pašalić.

Real Madrid's form is much more patchy, with Los Blancos having won three and lost two of their last five games. The weekend's encounter saw goals from Jude Bellingham, Arda Güler and Kylian Mbappé produce a 3-0 win over Girona, a result that was preceded by a disappointing 2-1 loss away at Athletic Club, where despite Jude Bellingham's late equaliser, an error from Federico Valverde saw them concede just one minute later.

Prior to that, goals from Bellingham and Mbappé saw them topple Getafe 2-0, which followed a 2-0 loss at Liverpool where Madrid were thoroughly outplayed, which was preceded by a 3-0 win over Leganés, where Mbappé, Valverde and Bellingham all grabbed the goals.

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