Real Madrid will look to ease the pressure on themselves in the Champions League when they host Red Bull Salzburg on Wednesday night.
It has been a worrying start for the reigning champions, who looked in danger of missing out on the knockouts entirely at one point, but a win here will all but secure a spot in the top 24.
Match preview
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Had it not been for a vital win away to Atalanta on matchday six, holders Real Madrid would have been in grave danger of missing out on the top 24 of the league phase.
Carlo Ancelotti's side enter matchday seven just two points inside the playoffs, and pressure could be placed on them by some of the sides playing 24 hours earlier on Tuesday.
The top eight is virtually unassailable now, with Real on just nine points from their first six games, so ensuring they place themselves as strongly as possible in the playoff zone will be the goal from this point, and their final two games are certainly winnable.
Salzburg have been well below par this season, while Brest await on matchday eight, so barring a remarkable collapse, a playoff place will be theirs.
Morale will be much higher among the Real players too, following a fine response to their pasting by Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup.
A 5-2 win over Celta Vigo saw them reach the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey, while dropped points by both Barca and Atletico Madrid allowed them to go top of La Liga courtesy of a 4-1 win over Las Palmas.
After playing catch-up for most of the campaign, Los Blancos now remarkably find themselves seven points clear of Barca, with rivals Atletico now their closest challengers, and they will feel they have four winnable matches before the Madrid derby in a few weeks against Salzburg, Real Valladolid, Brest and Espanyol.
Focus will be on the Champions League for now though, and they will be big favourites here in a game where they can extend their current run of 32 straight home games which have seen them score in the Champions League.
Ancelotti saw his side lose their last UCL home game though, going down 3-1 against his former club AC Milan, and they are now in danger of losing back-to-back games at the Bernabeu in this competition for the first time in over six years.
It will be a first ever meeting with Salzburg, but the home faithful will hope it goes in the same fashion as their last encounter with an Austrian club, which came all the way back in 1998, when they thrashed Sturm Graz 5-1.
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That is a real possibility too given the campaign Salzburg are enduring at present, with them set to be eliminated from this competition while sitting a long way off the pace domestically.
Unwanted history could be made here too, because if Salzburg lose by two or more goals without scoring, they will equal the record for the number of times a club has suffered that fate in one campaign - currently held by fellow Austrian's Sturm (six).
An out-of-sorts Paris Saint-Germain beat them 3-0 on matchday six, ultimately leading to the sacking of Pep Lijnders, who had also overseen a 5-0 thrashing away to Bayer Leverkusen, a 4-0 home loss versus Brest, a rare away win for Dinamo Zagreb, and a 3-0 humbling at Sparta Prague.
Thomas Letsch is the man who has come in to replace him, having been out of work since suffering the sack at Bochum in April, and this will be his first game in charge, with the Austrian Bundesliga still on their winter break until February 9.
Salzburg need a minor miracle to progress, facing the two Madrid clubs, and two wins will leave them on just nine points, which does not look like being enough to advance anyway.
A 3-0 win against Klagenfurt on December 14 was the last time Salzburg took to the field domestically, with two mid-season friendlies not going well for them, losing 6-0 against Bayern Munich, and 3-2 against Midtjylland.
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Team News
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Real Madrid will be without Lucas Vazquez after he picked up his third continental booking of the season against Atalanta, ruling him out with suspension here, so Ancelotti will need someone to cover in that area, as Dani Carvajal is also out injured.
Federico Valverde started there against Liverpool recently, while Aurelien Tchouameni could also fill in after proving his capabilities of deputising in defence over the past year, but he is a doubt for this one after missing the weekend win.
Vinicius Junior and Luka Modric will both be available again to Ancelotti after serving bans at the weekend, and the pair are set to come straight back into the starting XI, especially with Eduardo Camavinga a major doubt in midfield.
Salzburg will be without important duo Karim Konate and Maurits Kjaergaard due to long-term injury setbacks, while Alexander Schlager, Bobby Clark (both ill), Amar Dedic (ankle) and Daouda Guindo (knee) are all doubtful after missing the recent friendly.
After making a blistering start at the club and ultimately scoring 12 goals in 26 games, striker Fernando's injury problems have ultimately been his downfall, and he was sold to Bragantino in his homeland last week.
In his place, Karim Onisiwo has arrived on a free transfer from Mainz, returning to Austria after almost nine years away, and he scored in the friendly versus Midtjylland last week, but he will not be registered to feature here.
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Valverde, Asencio, Rudiger, Mendy; Modric, Ceballos, Bellingham; Rodrygo, Mbappe, Vini Jr
Red Bull Salzburg possible starting lineup:
Blaswich; Morgalla, Baidoo, Piatkowski, Terzic; Yeo, Capaldo, Bidstrup, Nene; Gloukh, Ratkov
We say: Real Madrid 4-0 Red Bull Salzburg
Salzburg have been on the receiving end of quite a few bruising scorelines in this season's Champions League, and this is now the toughest challenge they have faced, so another ugly result could be incoming.
Real are huge favourites to win here, and should make little fuss in doing so to put breathing space between themselves and the clubs challenging to make it into the top 24.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
