The UEFA Champions League is officially back and this Tuesday night all time winners of this competition Real Madrid invited VfB Stuttgart to the Bernabeu for this Round 1 matchup.

Real Madrid

Since the dawn of the European Cup and into the new era of the Champions League, Real Madrid have always been key figures. Last season they added to their mightily impressive tally of winner’s trophies, 15 times the trophy has gone their way. Due to that and the squad they have they are expected to lift the title come the end of the tournament, but they have to deal with Stuttgart on opening day first.

Despite being the one of the biggest clubs in the world, they are currently not even first in La Liga. They are second to El Classico rivals Barcelona, who have won all five games so far. Madrid have won three and drawn twice. Los Blancos’ first game of the season ended up with them sharing a point with Mallorca, but it was back to winning ways the next week as they convincingly beat Real Valladolid 3-0. Another shock and Madrid drew 1-1 once more to another expected bottom half of the table club, this time being La Palmas. It has gotten better for Real as they have now won their previous two games 2-0 against Real Sociedad and Real Betis respectively.

Kylian Mbappé and Vinicius Jr have been on top form yet again as from those five games they are both on three goal contributions, Mbappé with three goals and Vini Jr on two goals and one assist. They are two of the best players in their positions then add Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo, Luka Modric and Fede Valverde, it leaves Real Madrid with an incredible attack to create chances and there will be plenty in this one.

VfB Stuttgart

All the way back in 1989, VfB Stuttgart had just reached the UEFA Cup Final but unfortunately lost to Napoli over the two legs, 2-1 in the first and a 3-3 draw in the second saw Diego Maradona’s team lift the trophy. 35 years later and Stuttgart have their last appearance in the competition came in the 2009/10 season where they made it to the Round of 16. They will look to repeat that feat this season and they can do that by trying to grab a result against Real Madrid this Tuesday.

On their opening game in the Bundesliga this season they suffered a 3-1 lose to Frieberg despite taking the lead in the second minute. A goal from Ritsu Doan and a brace from Lukas Kübler was enough to make Stuttgart start the campaign off with a loss. Die Roten have been gradually improving as their next match ended with them drawing with Mainz in thrilling fashion, 3-3 the final score after 90 minutes, conceding a 90+4 minute equaliser to prevent them from their first win of the season. They achieved that in their following game though as Saturday saw the beating Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-3 away from home.

There isn’t any doubt that Stuttgart don’t deserve to be in this competition after finishing runners up in the Bundesliga last year. However, they have lost some of the essential players that helped them get there. Striker Serhou Guirassy and defender Waldemar Anton have both joined up with Borussia Dortmund and another defender parted ways, Hiroki Ito transferred to Bayern Munich. Stuttgart have brought in some quality players to combat these losses. Ermedin Demirovic came to the club from Augsburg and Deniz Undav is now at the club permanently after a loan spell last season. These players could have a good impact in this match and might upset a lot of Madrid fans.

Predicted Line-Ups

Real Madrid:

Courtois; Carvajal, Eder Militao, Rudiger, Mendy; Valverde, Modric; Rodrygo, Bellingham, Vinicius Junior; Mbappé

Stuttgart:

Nubel; Vagnoman, Chase, Chabot, Mittelstadt; Leweling, Karazor, Stiller, Rieder; Demirovic, Undav

What’s the tip?

Our betting experts have gone with Real Madrid To Win + Over 1.5 Goals. There is a reason why Real are the best team in the world with their 15 Champions League titles and we just can’t see Stuttgart beating such a dominant force. When you have the squad members that Madrid have, there is definitely a high chance that there will be an onslaught of goals given Mbappé and Vinicius are in the team.

What are the returns?

Through our bookmakers you can get odds as good as 2/5 via QuinnBet and PariMatch. Provided a £10 stake is placed, you could see winnings of £14.

Where can I watch the game?

UK viewers can catch this match on discovery+ / TNT Sports 1.