The FIFA Club World Cup has come under plenty of scrutiny, but soccer fans won’t be complaining Tuesday when two of the most famous clubs in the world, Real Madrid and Juventus, meet in the Round of 16.
Both sides endured ups and downs in the group stage of the tournament, but Madrid comes into Tuesday’s encounter as the decided favorite.
Los Blancos are -325 to advance to the quarterfinals, and are sitting at -170 to win this contest inside 90 minutes.
While a lot of European clubs were lukewarm on the idea of this tournament, it should benefit Real Madrid and their new manager, Xabi Alonso.
Playing meaningful games in the summer allows Alonso to implement his system and familiarize himself with a star-studded roster, headlined by Kylian Mbappe.
The first match wasn’t pretty for Alonso and Madrid, but they rebounded from a 1-1 draw with Al-Hilal with convincing wins over Pachuca and RB Salzburg to top the group.
Juventus found things easy in the first two matches against Al Ain and Wydad Casablanca, but they were exposed in a 5-2 defeat against Manchester City.
Juve had already qualified for the Round of 16 before their showdown with City, so perhaps they were not fully at the races in that tilt.
Juventus spent much of the 2024-25 season playing a low-event style of soccer under Thiago Motta, but things have looked quite different at this tournament.
Igor Tudor’s side has scored 11 goals, and they’ve had a total of 17 scored in their first three matches.
It behooves Juventus to dial that back a bit against a Real Madrid side that would be licking their chops if they get the opportunity to engage the Old Lady in a see-saw battle.
Don’t expect to see the same Juventus from the group stage in this matchup.
I expect this will be a cagey game, which puts value on the Under 2.5.
The Play: Under 2.5 (+100, FanDuel)
Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.