Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Barca to extend superb Bernabeu record
Published:Reigning Copa Del Rey champions Real Madrid meet Barcelona in the quarter-final first leg with the biggest psychological advantage they have had over their rivals in some time.
Jose Mourinho’s charges top La Liga, with a five-point gap separating them and their Catalan counterparts, and ‘Los Blancos’ will also take confidence from their 1-0 success in the final of this competition over Barca last year.
Real are 13/8 to take a lead to the Nou Camp, a price that you are rarely likely to see attributed to the nine-time European champions in a home match.
Punters should approach the price with caution though, as Pep Guardiola’s men have not lost on their past four visits to Santiago Bernabeu, and have won on three of these occasions.
The reigning European champions are also 13/8 in the football odds, and for a side touted as the greatest ever, that too is a price you will not see about Barcelona very often.
The sheer quality of Barcelona’s passing game was enough to undo the home side in their La Liga meeting this season, and the same thing could happen here.
It is 23/10 for a draw to occur though, and bearing in mind Real Madrid’s superior league form along with Barcelona’s tremendous recent record away to their rivals, that could be worth taking a chance on.
Usual suspects lead the betting in the first and last goalscorer markets, with recently crowned World Footballer of the Year Lionel Messi 7/2 joint-favourite to hit the net first, along with Cristiano Ronaldo, who finished third in the running for the award.
Meanwhile, it is worth noting that Barcelona have been drawing in two of the previous four meetings at half-time before going on to win.
You can back the same passage of play to occur in favour of the travellers here at highly appealing odds of 5/1.
