Reigning champions Real Madrid host RB Salzburg in the Champions League on Wednesday, and we’ve got the latest team news and predicted lineups, as well as a score prediction included in our preview.
Real Madrid vs RB Salzburg Preview
Carlo Ancelotti and his Real Madrid side welcome RB Salzburg to the Santiago Bernabeu on MD7 of the Champions League league phase, where Jude Bellingham and co. will be looking to maintain their position in the top 24 with a victory.
Los Blancos are currently in 20th place on nine points, and while a top eight finish is still achievable, it looks unlikely to happen for the reigning champions, as they are currently four points adrift of eighth place with just two games to play.
Last time out in the competition, they secured a vital 3-2 win over Serie A outfit Atalanta, providing a bounce-back response from their 2-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield on MD5.
Currently two points clear at the top of the La Liga table, Real have won five and lost one across all competitions in 2025, most recently playing out a 4-1 triumph over Las Palmas in the Spanish capital on Sunday afternoon.
✨ @ViniJr ✨ pic.twitter.com/qDYw2oPsbj
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) January 21, 2025
Salzburg, meanwhile, are down in 32nd place in the Champions League table, and their elimination from the competition will be confirmed if they fail to beat Real Madrid on Wednesday night.
The Austrian Bundesliga runners-up have amassed just three points from their opening six games, winning one and losing five, including heavy defeats to PSG, Bayer Leverkusen, Brest and Sparta Prague.
These disappointing results, as well as their underwhelming start to the domestic campaign, led to the dismissal of former Liverpool assistant Pep Lijnders in December, with Thomas Letsch since being appointed in his place.
Real Madrid Team News
Los Blancos will be without first and second-choice right-backs, Lucas Vazquez (suspension) and Dani Carvajal (knee), therefore Federico Valverde could be forced to deputise in the defensive position.
Elsewhere, Eder Militao (knee) and Eduardo Camavinga (thigh) are also ruled out, while Aurelien Tchouameni (leg) is a doubt after missing the win over Las Palmas at the weekend.
RB Salzburg Team News
As for the visitors, they are without Karim Konate and Maurits Kjaergaard for the long-term, while Alexander Schlager (illness), Bobby Clark (illness), Amar Dedic (ankle) and Daouda Guindo (knee) are doubts.
January signing Karim Onisiwo, who joined from Mainz on a free transfer and scored in a friendly against Midtjylland last week, is also unavailable as he has not been registered as part of Salzburg’s Champions League squad.
Real Madrid vs RB Salzburg Predicted Lineups
Real Madrid Predicted Lineup:
Courtois; Valverde, Asencio, Rudiger, Garcia; Ceballos, Modric; Rodrygo, Bellingham, Vinicius Jr; Mbappe
RB Salzburg Predicted Lineup:
Schlager; Capaldo, Dedic, Baidoo, Terzic; Bidstrup, Diambou; Yeo, Gloukh, Dorgeles; Ratkov
Real Madrid vs RB Salzburg Prediction
Unsurprisingly, Real Madrid are heavily favoured to win this one, rated at around 1/12 by the UK’s best football betting sites, while a victory for Salzburg is priced at a whopping 20/1 and a draw is at 12/1.
We at SportsCasting agree with the bookmakers’ assessment of the fixture and expect nothing less than a comfortable victory for Los Blancos on home turf to all but secure a top-24 finish in the league phase table.
Prediction: Real Madrid 3-0 RB Salzburg
