The Champions League brings out something special in Real Madrid and Los Blancos are hoping to turn in a good European performance once again to forget about their domestic woes. Having been beaten 3-0 in Eibar, it’s time to show face and rediscover the positive momentum with which Santiago Solari started his time as Real Madrid coach. There’s also a more pressing need to do well when they take on Roma on Tuesday night, as their 1-0 loss at CSKA Moscow earlier in the campaign leaves little to no margin for error. They need to avoid what would be a disastrous group stage exit, while there’s also the increased possibility of being handed a tough last 16 tie if they finish second and not first in the group. Real Madrid knows what it’s like to beat Roma and to beat them well, having turned in their most impressive performance of the season when they eased past the Italian side by a 3-0 scoreline on September 19. From that match to this one, they suffered a major slump that they couldn’t escape from. 
A 1-0 win over Espanyol immediately followed the first win over Roma, but then came their famous goalscoring drought and a run of four losses and one draw. A 2-1 victory against Viktoria Plzen, again in Europe, bought Julen Lopetegui some time, but the subsequent 5-1 humbling in El Clasico saw his reign come to an early end and saw Solari take over. Now it’s up to the Argentine to fix the team that lost so heavily in Eibar. He may look to inject fresh life into the team by playing someone like Isco, who hasn’t started yet under Solari, while he’ll once again need to come up with a solution to the absence of Casemiro. The Brazilian heads Real Madrid’s injury list, while Keylor Navas, Nacho, Sergio Reguilon, and Alvaro Odriozola are also missing.
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