The marquee match of the first round of Champions League games sees nine-times European Champions Real Madrid host big-spending Man City in the first competitive match between the two clubs. 

Real Madrid are the favourites at 8/11 with William Hill, whereas a City win can be backed at 9/2 with Sky Bet. Honours even is 3/1 with Betfred.

It's probably a bit early in the season to be talking about crises, but it would appear that we are on the cusp of one at Madrid at the moment. Real have only taken four points from their opening four league games, and already find themselves eight points behind Barcelona in La Liga. Real lost limply against Sevilla last time out, which prompted an angry outburst from Mourinho along the lines that he wanted to make seven substitutions at half time and that he currently 'doesn't have a team…' On top of this, Ronaldo is currently in the middle of the mother of all strops, for no apparent reason whatsoever. Whilst Man City are currently in fairly decent form at the moment, there is definitely cause for concern for Mancini. City are yet to keep a clean sheet this season, and, as ridiculous as it sounds, look short of ideas up top without Aguero, who, despite travelling with the squad to Madrid, may not be fit for the match.

Despite Madrid’s woes, they are still formidable at the Bernabeu, winning all six champions League games at home last year, whereas Man City have been poor on the road in Europe, losing four of their six away games last year. A price of 3/4 on the Real Madrid win may appeal to bigger investors, but those of us on more modest budgets may look elsewhere. One thing that this game practically guarantees is goals, and probably a lot of them. Real Madrid to win and both teams to score is available at a juicy 5/2 with Ladbrokes, and we’ll be getting behind that. On the subject of goals, over 3.5 goals is available at 7/4 with William Hill, which when you consider how top heavy both sides are looks a good shout.

In the players market, Ronaldo is a best price of 7/2 to open the scoring, which doesn’t really appeal, as whilst he obviously has the capacity to go on and score a hatful (and Betfred are running their double delight / hat-trick heaven promo if you think he will fill his boots…) we think the value lies elsewhere. If Man City are to get any sort of foothold in this game, their big name players need to step up, and for my money Yaya Toure is their biggest player, and not just in stature. Toure scores vital goals at vital times, and has already scored three in five this season. Toure to score anytime is available at 11/2 with William Hill.

Real Madrid v Man City Best Free Bets

Both teams to score AND Real Madrid to win @ 5/2 (Ladbrokes) – new Ladbrokes customers get a free £50 bet here.

Over 3.5 goals @ 7/4 (William Hill) – sign up here with promo code F25 and get a £25 free bet.

Yaya Toure to score anytime @ 11/2 (William Hill)