Real Madrid vs RB Leipzig Preview: Team News and Predicted Lineups

Match Overview

‍Real Madrid

Real Madrid head into this tie following a 2-2 result in the La Liga as they had to come from two goals behind to grab a draw.

During this tie, Jude Bellingham thought he'd scored the winner late on but the referee's whistle went before he put the ball in the net. Enraged with the decision, Bellingham's protests led to him receiving a red card.

Strong in Europe, Real Madrid have only failed to make it past the round of 16 in the Champions League twice in the past ten years.

Real Madrid have the upper hand in ties against their German counterpart, winning two of three ties against Leipzig ahead of the home leg.

Regarding the Valencia incident with Jude Bellingham's goal, coach Carlo Ancelotti said after the game: "Had the referee blown the whistle when the Valencia keeper cleared the ball, it would have been right, but he allowed play to continue and we had possession. I think he has made a mistake."

‍RB Leipzig

Leipzig won convincingly against VfL Bochum in the Bundesliga thanks to goals from Loïs Openda, Yussuf Poulsen and Dani Olmo.

This marked only their third win of 2024 as they went on a run of three consecutive losses in the Bundesliga to start the calendar year.

RB Leipzig have only ever managed to make it past the round of 16 once in the Champions League (2019-20 season).

For Leipzig, they have failed to win any of their last six knockout stage games in the Champions league (five losses and one draw).

Ahead Leipzig's victory against Bochum in their last game, Marco Rose said: "In Bochum you always expect a difficult away game with a lot of work to be done. A big compliment to VfL. That's why I'm very happy about the victory, which, as expected, was hard-earned."

Team News

Real Madrid

‍Real Madrid are without Thibaut Courtois due to a knee issue. Both Éder Militão and David Alaba are also unavailable due to knee injuries.

RB Leipzig

For Leipzig, Mohamed Simakan is unavailable due to yellow card suspension and Lukas Klostermann will also miss the tie due to a hip injury.

Predicted Lineups

Real Madrid:

Lunin; Carvajal, Tchouameni, Rüdiger, Mendy; Valverde, Kroos, Camavinga, Bellingham; Vinícius Júnior, Rodrygo

RB Leipzig:

Gulácsi; Henrichs, Lukeba, Orbán, Raum; Olmo, Haidara, Schlager, Simons; Openda, Šeško