Real Madrid vs RB Leipzig

Real Madrid hold a slender advantage when they take on RB Leipzig in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday.

The two sides were separated by a superb Brahim Diaz effort in Leipzig three weeks ago. The hosts were woefully wasteful as they went scoreless, although Madrid could have doubled or tripled their advantage in the latter stages of the first leg.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side haven’t exactly purred since their trip to Saxony and were forced to settle for another La Liga draw on Saturday at Valencia. Still, Jude Bellingham’s ruled-out winner didn’t prove too costly as both Girona and Barcelona dropped points on Sunday.

Leipzig harbour hopes of returning to Europe’s premier club competition next season and secured a feel-good 4-1 win over Bochum at the weekend. Marco Rose’s side will do battle with Borussia Dortmund for fourth spot in the Bundesliga.

Here’s 90min’s preview of Wednesday’s last-16 second leg.

There have been further positive updates on the injury front regarding Madrid’s long-term absentees. Both Thibaut Courtois and Eder Militao should be back in action next month.

David Alaba, however, won’t return until the summer.

Bellingham’s red card on Saturday night came in La Liga and won’t affect his availability for this fixture.

Real Madrid predicted lineup vs RB Leipzig (4-3-1-2): Lunin; Carvajal, Rudiger, Nacho, Mendy; Camavinga, Kroos, Valverde; Bellingham; Rodrygo, Vinicius.

Mohamed Simakan is suspended for Wednesday’s second leg after he picked up his third yellow card of Leipzig’s Champions League campaign in the first leg.

Benjamin Henrichs is poised to retain his place at right-back in Simakan’s absence. Lukas Klostermann is nursing a hip injury and is set to miss out.

RB Leipzig predicted lineup vs Real Madrid (4-2-2-2): Blaswich; Henrichs, Orban, Lukeba, Raum; Kampl, Schlager; Simons, Olmo; Sesko, Openda.

Leipzig will have to pull off a major upset to progress into the quarter-finals. They deserved more than a 1-0 defeat three weeks ago, earning a harsh lesson in efficiency after Benjamin Sesko missed a litany of early chances.

The visitors boast the creative talent and speed up top to trouble a Madrid side that’s reliant on Ancelotti’s serenity and supreme individual brilliance.

This should be a good game and it wouldn’t be a surprise if Leipzig are in it for large parts, but Madrid’s familiarity with these sorts of fixtures will eventually tell.