Real Madrid vs Leganes
As reigning La Liga and European champions, you won’t need this SBOTOP scribe to tell you that Real Madrid have a habit of turning up when it really matters.
Indeed, it is at this stage in the season, when every game and every result matters, that Los Blancos usually come alive.
Put simply: with the best team on planet football still challenging on all fronts this campaign, their fans expect and their players expect to deliver – starting this weekend with La Liga 2025 highlights.
Talking Points
There’s been much talk that Real have not been at their best this term – and that is correct.
Yet their record of 18 wins, six draws and four defeats from their 28 league matches so far, and a total of 60 points leaving them second in the division behind leaders Barcelona, is a damn good return.
They also retain hopes of a treble as will soon face Arsenal in the quarter-finals of the Champions League (their reward for a remarkable penalty shoot-out last-16 victory over city rivals Atletico), while they welcome Real Sociedad for the second leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final next week holding a 1-0 advantage.
There’s also been talk that their summer star signing has not delivered. That really is nonsense.
Last time out, Kylian Mbappe proved the man of the moment with another two smart finishes as Real won at Villarreal for the first time in eight years and the French captain will be aiming to add to the 31 goals that he has scored in all competitions so far.
This contest is a home banker if you base it solely on the fact that Real have the best home record in La Liga this season, picking up 34 points from their 13 matches at the Bernabeu, while Leganes have only managed to pick up 10 points from 14 games on their travels.
While Borja Jimenez’s side, who won last season’s Segunda Division title, go into this weekend sitting in the bottom three, they cannot be completely underestimated when you consider they recorded a 1-0 victory away to Barcelona shortly before the winter break in Spain.
Jimenez is an impressive young coach whose team have been competitive at times and they are only goal difference away from moving out of the drop zone.
They should be already but suffered a 3-2 loss at home to Real Betis at Butarque before the international break, a game in which they led 2-0 at half-time via a brace from Dani Raba before the contest was turned on its head.
Raba is a doubt this weekend, alongside Diego Garcia and defensive midfielder Yvan Neyou, while Enric Franquesa remains on the sidelines.
Like Madrid – who are without long-term absentees Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao– they will know this is now the stage of the season when results matter more than ever.
While I have seen Leganes disrupt the big boys on the odd occasion, I just cannot see it this Saturday night against the continent’s best and the champions, boosted by the possible return to the starting XI of Vinicius and Antonio Rudiger, should have too much.
History
Madrid have tasted victory in 12 of their 16 meetings with a further two draws.
Two of those successes have come this term as Real won 3-0 at Leganes in the league in November when Mbappe, Federico Valverde and Jude Bellingham were the marksmen.
They also knocked them out of the Copa del Rey in January, although that was a lot closer and took a last minute header from Gonzalo Garcia after two goals (one penalty) from Juan Cruz had brought the home side back into the contest following two in the opening 25 minutes from Luka Modric and Brazilian wonderkid Endrick.
It was in the Copa del Rey that Leganes have secured their only two victories over the mighty Real to date. One of those was an aggregate defeat but the other saw them prevail on away goals in a tie in early 2018.
The last time they met at the league in the Bernabeu was in October 2019 and it was something of a romp.
Rodrygo and Toni Kroos scored twice inside the opening eight minutes and that was that with Sergio Ramos (penalty), Karim Benzema (penalty) and Luka Jovic also on target in a 5-0 romp.
Betting Tip
Dare you back against the Spanish and European champions against a side which has only defeated them twice.
The La Liga 2025 betting odds concur and the home side are odds-on favourites both 1X2 @ 1.19 and Asian Handicap -2.00 @ 1.98.
A Leganes win or draw is worth a very tidy pay day, including 1X2 10.00, Asian Handicap +1.75 @ 2.14 and 1X2 Draw @ 6.20.
Another 3-0 league win will pay out @ 7.10 with Correct Score which has caught my eye but instead I am going for a *** prediction of total goal 2-3 @ 2.34 with the hosts getting the job done.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR (
) BETS ARE WORTH:
= €20 (HIGHLY CONFIDENT)
= €10 (CONFIDENT)
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT)
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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