Celta Vigo v Real Madrid Betting: Los Blancos can sweep aside the distracted hosts

Perhaps the best news for Real Madrid this week was seeing Celta Vigo draw the first leg of their Copa Del Rey semi final 0-0 at home to Alaves on Thursday.

Had the Galicians taken a comfortable first leg lead in Vigo, manager Enrique Berizzo may have been less inclined to rest players for the visit of Madrid before next week's crucial second leg.

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As it is, the Vigo coach is likely to protect a number of his key players for this clash as he has done in previous rounds of the Copa, and that can only be good news for Zinedine Zidane's side. Los Blancos know how tough a ground the Estadio Balaidos is to visit, with Madrid themselves knocked out of the competition there two weeks ago following a 2-2 draw.

The visitors though, will have had a week to prepare this game, and with no midweek committments coming up they can fully focus on picking up three points, something they did on their last league visit to Vigo with a 3-1 win in October 2015.

Paddy Power offer Real Madrid at 4/9 (1.44) and will pay out immediately if they take a two goal lead at any time thanks to their "2UP" offer. The same of course applies to Celta who are priced at 11/2 (6.50) while the draw can be backed at 7/2 (4.50).

Things are stacked in Real Madrid's favour and with key players Luka Modric and Marcelo returning to training this week, the injury crisis affecting Zidane's squad seems to be easing. Los Blancos have the best goals per game ratio away from home, managaing an average of 2.75 goals on the road in the league this term and have found the back of the net in 39 successive games in all competitions.

Celta for their part have kept just one clean sheet in 10 home matches, and have the fourth worst defensive record at home in the Primera Division. Backing the visitors to win with a -1 handicap therefore at 6/5 (2.20) should offer some value, with this bet comfortably paying out in both league meetings last season, as well as proving the correct selection in six of Madrid's last nine away league games.