Real Madrid vs RB Leipzig Preview

Two wins from two have taken Real Madrid to eighth in the Champions League standings, while RB Leipzig are 21st and arrive at the Santiago Bernabéu on Wednesday night after a heavy domestic defeat. Real beat Inter 2-1 in their league phase opener and Roma 4-3 away last week, and they added a 4-1 home win over Sevilla in La Liga on Sunday. Leipzig lost their opener, then beat PSV 1-0 at home on 13 October, but they went down 6-1 away at Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga on Saturday. Real Madrid are on six points with a goal difference of +2, and Leipzig are on three with -2. The two clubs have met four times in the Champions League, and Real Madrid lead the record. Kick-off in Madrid is at 8pm UK time.

Real Madrid have won four of their last five, scoring 13 goals and conceding eight. Sunday’s 4-1 home win over Sevilla in La Liga is the latest of those. Before that, Roma were beaten 4-3 away in the Champions League on 14 October, a seven-goal game that Real won by a single goal, and Villarreal were beaten 1-0 at home on 10 October, the only clean sheet of the run. Further back, Atlético Madrid won 2-1 against Real in the league on 20 September, the one defeat, and Elche were beaten 3-2 away on 15 September. Both home games in the sample at the Santiago Bernabéu were wins, by a combined 5-1. Real Madrid have conceded in four of the five games.

RB Leipzig’s last five read W3 L2, with 13 goals scored and eight conceded, and both defeats came away from home. Saturday’s 6-1 defeat away at Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga is the latest and the heaviest result of the run. Before that, PSV were beaten 1-0 at home in the Champions League on 13 October, and Eintracht Frankfurt 6-0 at home on 10 October. Further back, Bayer Leverkusen won 2-0 against Leipzig on 20 September, the only game in which they failed to score, and Hamburg were beaten 5-0 at home on 13 September. Leipzig won all three home games in the sample by a combined 12-0, and lost both away games, conceding eight in them.

Real Madrid hold a narrow lead across the four Champions League meetings listed, with two wins to Leipzig’s one and a draw, and the goals read 6-4. The most recent was a 1-1 draw at the Bernabéu on 6 March 2024, and before that Real Madrid won 1-0 away at Leipzig on 13 February 2024. Leipzig’s only win in the record was a 3-2 home win on 25 October 2022, and Real Madrid are unbeaten in both of their home meetings, winning 2-0 on 14 September 2022 and drawing in March 2024. Real kept clean sheets in two of the four.

Real Madrid are eighth in the league phase standings on six points with a goal difference of +2, and RB Leipzig are 21st on three points with -2. A win would take Leipzig to six points, though their position would depend on results elsewhere on matchday three.

In Spain, the match is live on Movistar Liga de Campeones, with Movistar+ and Movistar Plus+ streaming. German viewers can watch on DAZN Germany and DAZN2 Germany, with SRF zwei also carrying it, while in the UK it’s on TNT Sports 4, with HBO Max streaming. In the USA, Paramount+ and DAZN USA carry it.

Possible Lineups

Real Madrid — Form

RB Leipzig — Form

Head to Head

Where to Watch

Table

Champions League Standings