Club Brugge v Real Madrid preview, predicted XI, team news and more | UEFA Champions League 2019-20
Attention would turn to the Champions League this midweek, as the final round of group stage matches are played across 16 venues in Europe.
Heading into matchday 6, just eight teams have secured qualification to the round-of-16 and 13-time champions Real Madrid are one of those.
Los Blancos would travel to the Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges safe in the knowledge that they are through to the knockout rounds for a record-extending 22nd consecutive year.
Club Brugge v Real Madrid Head-To-Head
Both clubs have met on three occasions in the past and rather surprisingly, Club Brugge have an advantage over their more accomplished opponents when it comes to fixtures between the two.
This would be the fourth time that Real Madrid would be taking on Club Brugge and the Belgian side are yet to taste defeat against the Spanish giants, winning one and drawing the other two fixtures.
The first meeting between the pair came in the second round of the 1976/1977 European Cup and Club Brugge knocked Real Madrid out with a 2-0 aggregate scoreline, drawing the first leg goalless at the Santiago Bernabeu and scoring two without a reply in the return leg in Belgium.
Their latest clash came on matchday 2 and Nigerian international Dennis Emmanuel was the star of the show, scoring a brace to help Club Brugge into a two-goal lead before strikes by Sergio Ramos and Casemiro helped the hosts preserve face in front of their fans.
Club Brugge form guide: WDWDW
Real Madrid form guide: WDWWW
Club Brugge v Real Madrid Team News
Zinedine Zidane has had ill luck with injuries this term, given that a number of first-team players have been ruled out with injury at one point or the other.
Long-term absentees like Marco Asensio (ACL), James Rodriguez (Medial Ligament), and Lucas Vazquez (Toe) are all still ruled out, while Eden Hazard (Foot), Gareth Bale (Hamstring), and Marcelo (Calf) are recent additions to the treatment table.
Injuries: Marco Asensio, Lucas Vazquez, Eden Hazard, Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez, Marcelo
Suspension: None
Club Brugge v Real Madrid Predicted XI
Real Madrid Predicted XI: Alphonse Areola; Ferland Mendy, Eder Militao, Raphael Varane, Alvaro Odriozola; Casemiro, Toni Kroos, Isco; Vinicius Jr, Luka Jovic, Mariano Diaz
Club Brugge v Real Madrid Prediction
Regardless of the result on Wednesday, Real Madrid are guaranteed to finish second in the group and with crunch fixtures which could decide their league fate coming up against Valencia and Barcelona in the next week, Zinedine Zidane is likely to field a second-string squad to prosecute the fixture with Club Brugge.
On the other hand, though the hosts might be eliminated from the Champions League, they are still in with a shout to make it to the Europa League Round-of-32.
They are currently placed third in the group and would have to match or better Galatasaray's result against PSG to ensure that they prolong their European sojourn into next year.
Club Brugge might be relative minnows on the continent but they are no pushovers. evidenced by the fact that they currently sit seven points clear at the top of the Belgian Pro League despite having a game in hand.
They are more than capable of causing an upset and largely held their own in the first-leg against a full-strength Real Madrid squad with all to play for and would be buoyed to get a result in front of 27,000 of their fans.
Verdict: Club Brugge 2-2 Real Madrid
Also check out: Champions League Schedule Champions League table Champions league top scorers