Andy's Wednesday tips - Back Real Madrid

A couple of weeks ago, I really feared for Real Madrid ahead of this semi-final tie with their arch-rivals Barcelona. After all, Jose Mourinho's men were my ante-post tip to go all the way!

But after two fascinating dress rehearsals over the last couple of weeks, I'm feeling a lot better about their chances and I'm sure the players themselves are as well. To get a draw out of that league match after going down to ten men was a massive achievement, as we all know how tough it is to play against Barca with 11 men, let alone one down.

It's testament to how much Real Madrid wanted it and how hard they were prepared to work for each other that they got that draw, even though the La Liga title had realistically been lost a long time ago.

What the Copa del Rey Final demonstrated to me was that the longer the game went on, the fresher the Real players looked in comparison to their opponents. And that will be of real concern to Pep Guardiola.

Real are at home in this first leg of course but I wouldn't necessarily expect the Special One to set his side up to attack from the off; that's not his way. They'll be far more comfortable soaking up pressure and trying to catch Barca on the break and they have just the right sort of players to do that in Cristiano Ronaldo, Angel Di Maria and Gonzalo Higuain.

Those are guys with pace who can run at their opponents and draw free kicks out of them. In Ronaldo and Xabi Alonso they have two great free-kick takers and who's to say this first tie won't be settled by a set-piece?

I've been looking forward to this first leg for a long time now and there's certainly more at stake here than in the first two matches. These two are so closely matched that I'd be absolutely amazed if either one of them took more than a one-goal lead into the second leg but all things considered, I think it will be Real drawing first blood.

Recommended Bets:
Back Real Madrid to win at [2.8]
Back Real Madrid to win 2-1 at [11.5]
Back both teams to score at [1.82]

Andy Gray is on Twitter so follow him for his exclusive tips and his take on the biggest stories in football each week.

Published: 27 Apr 2011

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