Where to watch Real Madrid vs. RB Salzburg, lineups, odds: Champions League live stream, pick, prediction

The league phase of this Champions League campaign has brought some unexpected events, but one of the biggest surprises is that there’s a possibility that Real Madrid won’t qualify for the knockout phase of the tournament as they host RB Salzburg on Tuesday. It’d be a total disaster for Los Blancos if they failed to advance but with three losses already in the league phase, it’s a very real one. 

They will be facing an RB Salzburg side that is close to being eliminated from being able to make the knockout phase themselves after conceding 18 goals so far in the League Phase. With the match taking place at the Santiago Bernabeu, this will provide Real Madrid with a chance to run up the score in an attempt to shoot up the table as they can no longer afford missteps in this tournament.  

Here’s our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:

How to watch and odds

• Date: Wednesday, Jan. 22 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
• Location: Estadio Santiago Bernabeu — Madrid, Spain
• Live stream: Paramount+
• Odds: Real Madrid -1600; Draw +1100; RB Salzburg +3000

Storylines

Real Madrid: After going top of La Liga, Real Madrid have been able to put a poor loss to Barcelona behind them to turn full focus back to triumphing in Champions League play. Lucas Vazquez is suspended due to yellow card accumulation but for a rare time this season, Carlo Ancelotti’s men haven’t picked up new injuries that they’ll have to deal with in this clash. With Kylian Mbappe beginning to find his footing, there should be plenty of firepower available to cut through the Austrian side’s defenses.

Real Madrid predicted XI: Thibaut Courtois, Lorenzo Aguado, Raul Asencio, Antonio Rudiger, Ferland Mendy, Federico Valverde, Dani Ceballos, Rodrygo, Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior, Kylian Mbappe

RB Salzburg: Looking to stay in contention for the knockout stage, Salzburg will need to bring everything that they can to face Real Madrid. No strangers to Champions League play, getting a result in Spain will be one of their toughest challenges yet. Throwing everything forward will also mean that the defense is easier to counter against in what could be an easy victory for Madrid.

RB Salzburg predicted XI: Janis Blaswich, Aleksa Terzic, Kamil Pitakowski, Samson Baidoo, Leandro Morgalla, Nene Dorgeles, Mads Bidsturp, Nicolas Capaldo, Moussa Yeo, Petar Ratkov, Oscar Gloukh

Prediction

A brace from Mbappe will ensure that Real Madrid keeps pace with the teams ahead of them. The top eight may be out of reach but they can still gain a seeded place in the knockout phase. Pick: Real Madrid 4, RB Salzburg 1