Man United v Real Madrid: Big score draw to see La Liga giants through

With the hosts possessing an indifferent recent record opposing Spanish teams at Old Trafford, punters could be forgiven for avoiding Manchester United at 19/10 to win in 90 minutes against Real Madrid.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s men have triumphed just once in their last five home outings against La Liga opposition, whilst they have won less than half of their 20 total games hosting Spanish clubs.

Meanwhile, the most popular result emanating from those matches has been a draw, which is a 13/5 shot here.

And though only one United game has finished level in the Champions League this season, that looks the most likely outcome here against a Real side that has played out three European stalemates this term.

The 13/10 visitors, who enter this clash on the back of consecutive victories over Barcelona, found the net in each of those previous stalemates, and a score draw may be the best call here too.

It is available at 29/10, but better value may be found in betting on the quantity of goals to emerge in company with the match result.

At 7/1, the price for a draw featuring in excess of 3.5 strikes looks massive, and such a result would see Jose Mourinho’s men advance via the away goals rule.

Punters should take note that nine-time European champions Real have failed to score at Old Trafford only once, and have registered eight times in only four visits to the ground.

Los Blancos also racked up 15 goals at the Champions League group stage, the second-best tally in the competition, and face a United side which has conceded a goal-a-game on average in Europe this term.

More cautious punters will like the 9/20 that both teams simply notch in the game meanwhile, as has been the case in seven of the nine total meetings of the sides.

But Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Old Trafford may make this the most highly scrutinised encounter of all those clashes, past or future.

All eyes will be on the Portuguese superstar, rumoured to be returning to the Red Devils, and he is 7/2 to open the scoring against his former club here.

It’s odds-on at 4/5 that Ronaldo finds the net at any time in the match, which looks good even at such a short price, considering his five goals in seven European appearances so far this term.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.