Olympiacos vs. Real Madrid: Los Blancos must overcome injuries to show Champions League credentials

While Real Madrid have exerted their dominance over La Liga, Xabi Alonso still has work to do if they want to get back to the top of the Champions League alongside contenders such as Arsenal and Bayern Munich. Not only losing to Liverpool but being dominated in UCL play shows how far that Madrid have to go in order to realize their full potential. Kylian Mbappe has been scoring for fun with 19 goals in all competitions this season, but it hasn’t been enough to make up for their defensive issues.

• Date: Wednesday, Nov. 26 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
• Location: Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium — Piraeus, Greece
• Live stream: Paramount+
• Odds: Olympiacos +475; Draw +400; Real Madrid -222
• Pick: Real Madrid 3, Olympiacos 1

Since kicking off November by defeating Valencia, Real Madrid have failed to win their last three matches, scoring two goals while allowing three. With an away trip to Greece to face Olympiacos, the expectation will be for Los Blancos to win, but this won’t be an easy match. Olympiacos are unbeaten in their last nine home European matches after drawing PSV 1-1 on Matchday 4. They’ve been a team that looks to press sides and keep up intensity which can give Real Madrid issues.

With injuries in defense, Aurelien Tchouameni may be called upon at center back, which will have Olympiacos striker Ayoub El Kaabi liking his own chances of finding the back of the net. Combined with Chiquinho and Daniel Podence, the Greek side have a strong counter attack which can make the opposition pay, and Real Madrid will be hurting in net without Thibaut Courtois, who adds to their injury list. It’s quite a number of players who won’t be available for that one.

Real Madrid injuries

Despite heavy investment in the squad during the summer, Real Madrid are out almost an entire defense for this critical match. While they should have enough to win, these are the type of matches that show what they’re made of. When he was in charge of Bayer Leverkusen, Alonso proved time and time again that it didn’t matter if he had his starters because any member of the squad was ready to step up and get the job done. 

This is a quality that has yet to translate to Real Madrid in the early stages of his management. The highs have been high, and this is a club that can compete with the best sides in the world, but in building consistency, they need to win matches like this emphatically. One part of doing that has been accomplished in having Mbappe play like a proper nine, but in winning without his center backs, Alonso will be able to accomplish another critical task in controlling a match from start to finish in a hostile environment. While that’s easier said than done, to win the Champions League, it’s what you have to do.