Real Madrid vs Union Berlin preview, team news, tickets & prediction

In Europe’s elite competition, this is a mismatch between Real Madrid and Union Berlin. The Spanish side are the undisputed kings of this competition, while the Germans are set to make their first-ever appearance.

Real Madrid failed to win the Spanish La Liga last season, losing out to arch-rivals Barcelona in the title race, but they have stepped things up this season despite losing Karim Benzema to the Saudi Arabia money spring.

Los Blancos played their first three games on the road due to renovation works at the Bernabeu but that did not stop them from winning their first five league games of the season. Real Madrid began the season with a 2-0 win over Athletics Bilbao. Rodrygo got the opening goal while summer signing Jude Bellingham scored his first goal in Spanish Football after just 36 minutes.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side followed that win up with a 3-1 win over Almeria. After going a goal down, goals from Jude Bellingham (brace) and Vinicius secured the second win of the season. It was much difficult against Celta Vigo but Real Madrid came away with a 1-0 win courtesy of Bellingham’s goal.

Since the opening day, Real Madrid have not kept a clean sheet and that run continued when they were down by a goal against Getafe in their first game at the Bernabeu. However, goals from Joselu and Bellingham turned things around once again.

Bellingham was rightly voted the La Liga player of the month of August, while Real Madrid remained top with their 100% record intact. After the international break, Real Sociedad also gave them a scare like Getafe but the Spanish giants found a way once again through Valverde and Joselu in the absence of Vinicius Junior.

Meanwhile, Union Berlin’s form seems to have cooled off after a fine start to the season. The Berlin side won their opening two games against Mainz and Darmstadt before losing the next two to RB Leipzig and Wolfsburg. The form going into their first-ever Champions League game does not look good and they will need to rediscover themselves if they’re to pick something from the trip to Madrid.

This is Real Madrid’s 27th consecutive Champions League campaign, they last failed to reach the knockout stages in 1996/97. Being Union Berlin’s debut season in the Champions League, this will be their first-ever meeting with the Los Blancos. Union will also be the 15th different German side to feature in the Champions League, the most from any nation.

Real Madrid are kings of this competition for a reason and they have won on 12 of the 13 occasions when their opening game of a Champions League campaign has been played at home. Another stat to back Madrid’s remarkable run in the competition up is that they have only failed to score in one of their last 68 home games in the Champions League.

Based on form and pedigree, Real Madrid should win this easily, but their attack without the influential Vinicius Junior might complicate things in the Spanish capital on Wednesday evening. Regardless, they go into the game as favorites, especially given the venue of the fixture as well.

Match tickets

The epic match at Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid kicks off on Wednesday 20th September, at 5:45 PM UK time and it will be shown live on TNT Sports, with coverage starting from around 5 PM.

This is a special night at the newly refurbished 83,168-capacity stadium in the Spanish capital. Being Real Madrid’s 150th opponent in the competition and making their debut, Union Berlin fans should be present for this one.

Getting tickets for Real Madrid vs Union Berlin tickets could be difficult to get given the magnitude of this game. Hence, you are advised to search ticket reselling sites should they be expectedly sold out on each club’s channels. 

Team news

Line-ups

Don Carlo is fond of rotating his squad and he might just do that once again. However, Kepa, Alaba, and Rudiger are all expected to start in the backline. Joselu should keep his place in attack in the absence of Vinicius Junior. Meanwhile, Éder Militão and Thibaut Courtois are ruled out until next year after both sustained respective ACL injuries. Daniel Ceballos is doubtful. 

Real Madrid: Kepa; Carvajal, Rudiger, Alaba, Garcia; Valverde, Tchouameni, Kroos; Bellingham; Rodrigo, Joselu.

Union have played with three at the back for a while now and should keep it up. However, they will be missing some key players going into their Champions League debut. Sheraldo Becker (hip), Laurenz Dehl (Achilles tendon), András Schäfer (foot), Rani Khedira (calf), and Lucas Tousart (thigh) are on the sidelines. 

Union Berlin: Ronnow; Doekhi, Knoche, Leite; Trimmel, Kral, Gosens; Laidouni, Haberer; Behrens, Fofana.

Prediction

Real Madrid has scored in every game this season, while Union has only failed to score in just one of their games so far. Real Madrid has been shaky at the back and that’s why they have only kept two clean sheets, while the German side is yet to keep any clean sheets this season.

Meanwhile, only three of the 14 previous Bundesliga teams to play in the UEFA Champions League have won their first-ever game (four draws and seven losses), with Wolfsburg (2009/10) the last team to do so.

In terms of players who could get the goals, Joselu has two goals in their last two games, while Rodrygo has the best minutes-per-goal involvement ratio of any Real Madrid player in the Champions League (min. 500 minutes played) since the 19/20 season, averaging a goal or assist every 86 minutes (15 goals and eight assists).

Taking everything into account, Real Madrid will be made to work hard once again for their victory but everything points to the direction of the Spanish giants starting their Champions League campaign with nothing but a win.

Real Madrid 2-1 Union Berlin