Manchester United vs Real Madrid
These are the games we really look forward to, one which brings together two of the elder statesmen of world football that love to put on a show.
Fans will pack into the Hard Rock Stadium again, at the prospect of seeing these two giants in ICC 2018, and managers Jose Mourinho and Julen Lopetegui each have plenty to play for.
Long before Jose and Julen arrived, the Red Devils and Los Blancos have seen themselves, quite rightly, as the teams with the richest heritages in Europe. They have 53 domestic league titles between them, Los Blancos with 33 and United with 20—while Real have just won their 13th Champions League.
Barcelona, and now Manchester City, may have something to say about this supremacy, but you can’t deny the pedigree.
And these are interesting times. There is no little intrigue in this game at a point when both teams are in a stage of some transition.
Talking Points
Manchester United vs Real Madrid betting tips used to centre around one man in particular. But there is no longer a CR7 in this clash as Real’s former talisman prepares for life in Serie A, and that will be okay for United fans as their love for their former hero always makes it hard to see him lining up for another team.
Let’s hope they don’t draw Juve in the Champions League!
Jose Mourinho, of course, managed Real Madrid on his tour of Europe in which he became only the fifth coach in history to win league titles in four nations—Portugal, England, Italy and Spain…special indeed.
Cynics, however, would point to Mourinho’s tendency to stay put for just three years; so after two fairly underwhelming seasons at Old Trafford, this one will be worth watching for sure.
His big signing of the summer, Brazilian Fred, made a brief debut in the recent defeat to Liverpool, and Jose hopes he can add more technical ability to a team packed with size, pace and strength.
Meanwhile, there’s a new boss in town to take on Los Blancos after Zinedine Zidane spectacularly resigned days after winning the Champions League.
The arrival of Julen Lopetegui was equally sensational. He left his job as head coach of Spain a couple of days before the World Cup began, and we all know how that worked out! But who’d turn down a job at the Bernabeu?
Lopetegui has a fair bit to prove. While he has managed the national side at numerous youth levels, his only foray into club management ended without success at Porto—and that after spending quite an amount of cash on Spanish players.
He’ll want to spend again in an attempt to regain the La Liga title after the departure of Ronaldo. But rumours of a move for Eden Hazard or Edinson Cavani are yet to come to fruition, not to mention PSG’s Neymar.
These are interesting times indeed in Manchester and Madrid.
History
Jose’s last outing in the ICC was something of a disaster, ending in a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of archenemy Liverpool. United haven’t won yet in pre-season, the last success coming against Watford in the Premier League in May.
In contrast, Real Madrid’s last competitive match was the Champions League final, where Gareth Bale’s spectacular goal took the headlines. The Welsh winger has long been admired at Manchester United and how Jose would love him to become available in the next two weeks!
Real Madrid won the last meeting between these two teams, coming out as 2-1 winners at the Super Cup in 2017. Isco was among the scorers for Real while Romelu Lukaku was on target for the Red Devils.
Prior to that, United triumphed twice at the ICC while Real won the last Champions League meeting back in 2013.
Overall, the last seven games have been split at three each and one draw.
What are the odds?
Real Madrid are firm favourites to win at the Hard Rock Stadium, at least according to SBOBET predictions. The reigning UCL Champions are odds-on at 1.74, with the Red Devils at 3.55 and the draw slightly further out at 4.00.
Asian Handicap sports betting pitches Los Blancos at -0.50 @ 1.80 while United are at 2.13 with a + 0.50 goal start.
I can’t see a goal fest here and the odds agree. Over 3.00 goals is available at 2.13 while under 3.00 pays 1.78.
If you think United can get out of this with something, then you can back a double chance on Manchester United, win or draw, at odds of 1.82.
All the ICC 2018 updates will be available right here at SBOBET when the battle is lost and won. So who do you think will be smiling: will it be Jose or Julen?
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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