Alright, ladies and gentlemen... buckle up for this Champions League matchup between Lille and Real Madrid. Let's dive into some stats, shall we?
In the goalkeeper's corner, we've got Thibaut Courtois representing Real Madrid, strutting an impressive 8.10 rating with 6 saves under his belt. On the other side of the field, Lucas Chevalier is guarding the Lille goal post. Now, I'm not saying he's bad, but with a rating of only 6.30 and 3 saves... well, let's just say Courtois could probably use his haircut as his biggest selling point.
Over at Real Madrid, we've got a few talking heads worth mentioning. Kylian Mbappé is lighting up the salad bar with a solid 8.00 rating, 1 goal, and 4 shots on goal. Ah, then there's Antonio Rüdiger - just oozing confidence with a 7.70 rating and one chalk mark in the goals column. And, we can't forget dear old Rodrygo. No goals, no shots on goal, but a fitting 7.90 rating for his passing accuracy. His mama would be proud.
Lille, on the other hand, have their top players, Thomas Meunier and Alexsandro Ribeiro, pulling 7.00 and 6.90 ratings respectively. Unfortunately, the stats show a desert-like drought of goals or shots on goal. Perhaps they're just pacifists?
The recent victories column tells a similar tale. Real Madrid comes out guns blazing with one win, while Lille has yet to scratch the win column this playoffs. Real Madrid is showing off some swagger with impressive wins against big names like Borussia Dortmund and Bayern München, not to mention a hard-fought draw against Manchester City.
Lille, well... they've experienced the bitter taste of defeat versus Sporting recently and narrowly emerged victorious against Slavia Praha and Fenerbahçe earlier.
Given these factors, if you were in Vegas and had a few bucks you weren't too attached to, you might want to consider the following prediction:
Albert’s Prediction: Real Madrid by 2