R Madrid v Dortmund: Final hope born of hosts’ Bernabeu record

Real Madrid have a mountainous task in reaching a first Champions League final since 2002, heading into the second leg of their semi-final bout with Borussia Dortmund on the wrong end of a 4-1 aggregate scoreline.

Real are 4/7 in match betting markets, and given their superlative record at Santiago Bernabeu this term, they appear a better call than the 3/1 draw, and their 4/1 visitors.

Jose Mourinho’s men are unbeaten on their own patch across all competitions this season, winning 14 of their 16 La Liga home outings, and three of the five Champions League matches they have hosted.

And with Real needing to win by a minimum three-goal margin to reach Wembley, there could be some scope to the 7/2 odds regarding the Spanish giants qualifying by any means.

Los Blancos have triumphed by three or more goals on 11 occasions throughout the campaign, with a lofty eight of those coming at the Bernabeu, whilst three of their five European successes this season have come via a three-goal margin.

Considering that, backing three strikes to separate the teams in Real’s favour may prove a prudent 6/1 shout, whilst a 3-0 scoreline in favour of the hosts, the minimum-required result to see them progress in normal time, is a 12/1 shot.

A 4-1 home triumph is 18/1 to materialise, with such an instance the only occurrence that would force extra-time here, and with a dominant success for the La Liga giants required, more cautious punters may like half markets.

Real turned a half-time lead into a full-time victory in three of their five Champions League triumphs this season, with 6/5 available regarding another repetition of those circumstances here.

And if Los Blancos are to make a fist of gaining a European Cup final berth, Cristiano Ronaldo’s performance in this match is likely to be of huge importance.

The Portugal superstar is the competition’s top scorer, having notched 12 times, and he is 11/4 favourite to break the deadlock, and 9/1 to register a second seasonal tournament hat-trick.

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