4/12 plays. UCL, Non-UCL, Ian and SL Plays: (Patreon)

Going to keep including Ian's picks! Man's been hot! 

Here's tomorrow! 

Non UCL Plays:

FC Lviv v FC Shakhtar Donetsk. Over 3.5 goals. +100. 7am ET. Ukraine Prem ( I like Shakhtar over 2.5 TT at -140 too)

Tampa Bay Rowdies v Charleston Battery. BTTS -125. 7:30pm ET. USL

UCL Plays

Real Madrid v Chelsea. Real Madrid over 1.5 TT -110. 3pm ET 

AC Milan v Napoli. Under 2.5 goals -140. 3pm ET 

Ian's Plays:

Real Madrid v Chelsea. Under 2.5 goals. -115. 3pm ET 

AC Milan v Napoli. Milan DNB -110. 3pm Et 

SportsLine Plays 

REAL MADRID CF vs. CHELSEA F.C. | 4/12 | 3 p.m. ET

Picks

• Real Madrid ML -135
• Benzema ATGS +105
• Real Madrid over 1.5 TT -110

UCL action is back as Carlo Ancelotti's Real Madrid will look to pursue the back-to-back Champions League title, and the next task before them is a difficult-to-predict Chelsea side. This first leg of two will be played in Madrid at the Bernabeu, a place that is extremely difficult for visitors. Chelsea will charge into this matchup under new interim manager and former Chelsea legend Frank Lampard, who has a tough task ahead of him for the Blues.

Real Madrid Expectations and Post-Break Form

People have been underestimating this Real Madrid side all season, and they admittedly have been spotty at times. Yet with their domestic campaign essentially over with Barcelona sitting a pretty 13 points ahead of them, the focus has shifted entirely to Champions League domination. These are the returning champs, and they come back in explosive fashion off the International Break.

Madrid started the returned with a 6-0 win over Valladolid, in which Karim Benzema grabbed a hat trick. That was followed by a 4-0 win over Barcelona in the Copa del Rey semifinal, in which once again, Benzema scored a hat trick. Real Madrid did lose to Villarreal 2-3 over the weekend, but that was a match in which Ancelotti chose to rest players specifically for the match against Chelsea. The last thing that any team wants to deal with is an in-form Benzema, at the Bernabeu, against a healthy and focused Real Madrid side.

Chelsea

You could not pay me to trust Chelsea at the moment. I don't want to disrespect Lampard in his role as caretaker until Chelsea can find a permanent manager, but something just isn't clicking for a side that has spent close to 800 million Euros on players over the last 12 months. This is a team that has completely changed the roster, including going on what will be a third manager over the course of the season.

While Lampard is a master of the sport, this is a monumental challenge ahead of them, and his short tenure with this squad started off on poor footing, as Chelsea fell 1-0 to Wolves in league play. With the likes of Joao Felix, Kai Havertz, Enzo Fernandez, Mykhailo Mudyrk and more, on paper this is a really strong team.

However, really strong teams don't go three games now without scoring. Really strong teams don't drop points to Wolves, Aston Villa, and Everton. Strong teams find results and Chelsea aren't doing that. I think Chelsea will be able to bounce back, but wit