Sporting Braga vs Real Madrid

Sporting Braga and Real Madrid are set to lock horns in their first-ever Champions League meeting at the Estadio Municipal de Braga.

Sporting Braga pulled off an outrageous comeback at Union Berlin last time out, bouncing back from an early 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 on German soil. That result forms part of their impressive five-match winning streak across all competitions, which kickstarted with a 4-1 thumping of Boavista at home immediately after going down 2-1 to Napoli in their Champions League opener. The Primeira Liga heavyweights have already equaled their wins tally from their previous Champions League campaign in 2012/13 (W1, L5). Artur Jorge’s side excelled at home in qualifying, beating TSC Backa Topola 3-0 and Panathinaikos 2-1, making for good reading ahead of their first home encounter against Spanish visitors since a 1-0 victory over Sevilla in the Champions League playoffs back in August 2010.

As for visiting Real Madrid, a piece of history is on the cards as they gun for a Champions League win over a record 108th different opponent after squeezing past Union Berlin and Napoli via single-goal margins, courtesy of goals beyond the 75th minute. Carlo Ancelotti’s team needed Dani Carvajal’s late heroics to hold Sevilla to a dramatic 1-1 away draw in La Liga last weekend, making it three consecutive travels without losing across all competitions (W2, D1). However, they’ve blown hot and cold on their recent Champions League road trips (W3, D1, L2), meaning they cannot underestimate Braga, even though they’ve been unbeaten on Portuguese soil since 1999 (W3, D1). Since that draw against Sevilla knocked them down from a four-match winning streak, ‘Los Merengues’ should be confident of winning their first visit to Portugal since 2016.