Champions League Group D has already seen Real Madrid and Inter punch their tickets to the knockout stages, but first place is on the line when the two meet Tuesday during Matchday 6. Los Blancos enter the contest with a 4-0-1 record and 12 points, sitting two above Inter, who are 3-1-1 with 10 points. Only a draw is needed to win first place in the group for Carlo Ancelotti’s men, while Inter must win if they are to earn the top seed and aim to avoid the likes of Bayern, Ajax, Liverpool, Manchester City and others.
Here are storylines, how you can watch the match and more:
How to watch and odds
- Date: Tuesday, Dec. 7 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
- Location: Estadio Santiago Bernabeu — Madrid, Spain
- TV and live stream: Paramount+
- Odds: Real Madrid +109; Draw +245; Inter +250 (via Caesars Sportsbook)
Storylines
Real Madrid: The big problem for Real is that Karim Benzema came off injured against Real Sociedad at the weekend after just 16 minutes. He’ll miss this match and is doubtful for Sunday’s Madrid derby against Atletico, according to Marca. So how will they replace him? The natural move is to insert Luka Jovic after what he did over the weekend, coming on for Benzema and scoring the second goal in a 2-0 win. He looked sharp in the process, creating three chances, completing 88.9 percent of his passes and scoring a crucial goal to settle the score.
Inter: The defense enters this match in incredible form after four straight cleansheets. It’s been 372 minutes since they’ve conceded a goal, and they’ll feel confident in doing it again here as long as they play to their style. The key will be keeping width defensively to deal with Real’s pace on the wings, and as long as they can do that, they should have enough centrally to deal with a partially depleted Real attack.
Prediction
Los Blancos manage a point without Benzema as Vinicius once again puts together a dazzling display. Pick: Real Madrid 1, Inter Milan 1
