Real Madrid vs RB Leipzig: Hosts look to continue perfect start to the season

Topics: TV Schedules, TV Listings, Real Madrid, RB Leipzig, UEFA Champions League

The UCL reigning champions will continue their Champions League title defense with a home match against RB Leipzig on Wednesday, September 14th.

Having won an unprecedented 14th Champions League title last season, Real Madrid will once again seek to add another trophy to their massive haul as they continue their title defense on Wednesday. Carlo Ancelotti's side have kicked off proceedings on a high note, easing to a 3-0 victory over Celtic with Vinicius Junior, Luka Modric and Eden Hazard all being on target, and now, they will aim to make it six points out of six against RB Leipzig, who suffered a shock loss 4-1 to Eastern European outfit Shaktar Donetsk on matchday one.

Los Blancos come into this game having earned a comfortable 4-1 win over Mallorca, during which they came from behind to score four times sans reply. Next up for them will be a showdown with Atletico Madrid, who sit five points behind them in the La Liga table. Impressively, Real Madrid have won all seven of their last seven matches across all comps, including a perfect start in La Liga and the Champions League as well as clinching the UEFA Super Cup at Eintracht Frankfurt's expense back in August.

Meanwhile, Leipzig have undergone an emergency managerial change. Following the aforementioned shock 4-1 loss to Shaktar as well as a disappointing 4-0 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt, Domenico Tedesco was relieved from his duties with ex-Dortmund boss Marco Rose brought in as his replacement. Ironically, Rose himself was sacked by die Schwarzgelben, but got some modicum of personal revenge over his former side as he guided Leipzig to a 3-0 victory last weekend, which certainly will help boost his team's confidence ahead of the tough trip to Madrid.

Still, while Los Blancos do look like the clear favorites, Leipzig may have some hope. Despite being only founded in 2009, die Roten Bullen have a decent record against Spanish sides, with two wins and a draw from their last three meetings. Of course, one could argue that that is not a big enough sample to form a solid conclusion, but Real Madrid have shown that despite their fearsome reputation, they are not infallible. That being said, Madrid are unbeaten in their last 11 meetings (W7 D4) against German sides in the Champions League, a run extending back to April 2016, when they surprisingly lost 2-0 during the first leg of their quarter-finals ties against Wolfsburg.

Team news: Real Madrid vs RB Leipzig

Real Madrid: Star man Karim Benzema as well as Eder Militao are expected to miss this game through injury, along with Lucas Vazquez, while Alvaro Odriozola will have to be evaluated before the match.

RB Leipzig: The visitors will have to make do without Lukas Klostermann and Dani Olmo due to injuries.

Match facts: Real Madrid vs RB Leipzig

RB Leipzig are unbeaten in their last three meetings against Spanish sides (W2 D1)
Real Madrid are unbeaten in their last 11 matches against German teams (W7 D4), with Wolfsburg being the last side to beat them (2-0 in April 2016)
Carlo Ancelotti could record 100 wins in the UCL should Madrid beat Leipzig; only Sir Alex Ferguson, with 102, has done better
Interestingly, Leipzig have never had a scoreless stalemate in any of their past 31 UCL matches - the most of any side in this competition; to date, die Roten Bullen have a record of W14 D3 L13
Luka Modric, who recently turned 37, could become the second oldest Real Madrid player to feature in the UCL (excluding goalkeepers) if he plays on Wednesday