Last week was a good one for the bookmakers in the Champions League as we saw three teams secure shock away victories and with it progress into the quarterfinals of the competition, while three much-fancied teams, including last year’s winner and one of the semi-finalists, were eliminated.
Manchester United’s stunning performance and victory over Paris St Germain in France was undoubtedly one of the best ever performances away from home by an English team in Europe in recent times and they deservedly march on into the quarterfinals. They will be joined there by Ajax, who sensationally thumped Real Madrid 4-1 at the Bernebeu, in what was one of the biggest upsets in the Champions League in recent years.
[featured_offer id=”1750″]Combine those two massive results with Tottenham’s battling 1-0 win in Dortmund and then FC Porto’s extra time victory over AS Roma (which I have to brag a little and say that I predicted bang on the money) and it means that the quarterfinalists so far comprise of Man Utd, Ajax, Tottenham and FC Porto, which were probably the four teams many thought least likely to qualify from those fixtures at the start of the Round of 16.
This week however, we have the remaining four Round of 16 second legs to enjoy in the Champions League, so will we have further upsets in these games, or will the more established, or teams leading from the first leg, make it into the next round?
If you fancy a flutter on the Champions League then it is well worth heading over to bet365 Sport. New customers can benefit from up to £100 in bet credits once they sign up with the latest bet365 New Player Bonus offer and then start betting on site, so what better way to earn your free bets than with a flutter on the Champions League this week?
To start you offer, we have given you our preview and tips for the four matches being played Tuesday and Wednesday nights below.
Champions League Preview and Tips
Round of 16 – Second Legs (Kick off 8pm)
Juventus (0) v (2) Atletico Madrid
Two late goals in the first leg handed Atletico an invaluable lead to take to Turin for the second leg this week. Jon Giminez and Diego Godin were the goalscorers for the Spanish side and they will fancy their chances here but face a stern test against a Juventus side who are unbeaten at home this season and who have not lost a single game in Serie A all season long.
Juventus will be hoping their significant investment in Cristiano Ronaldo at the start of the season will pay off and the Portuguese legend will need to be at his best against an Atletico defence which is one of the tightest and most experienced in European football.
I can see Juventus winning this game, but can they win by three clear goals to go through? That I am not sure about and while I can see Juventus winning, I think Atletico will do enough to grab a goal and that may well make this tie safe in the end.
Our Tip – I’d back Juventus to win and both teams to score, which is a 10/3 shot with bet365 at present. However, I feel that despite victory on the night, Atletico may well just be the team to make it through from this quarterfinal.
Manchester City (3) v (2) Schalke 04
The first leg of this tie was packed with incident with Manchester City being hindered by two somewhat controversial VAR decisions, the visitors were also reduced to ten men when Nicolas Otamendi received his second yellow card and despite that and being 2-1 behind, they rallied to score two late goals through Sane and Sterling to take a 3-2 lead into the home leg.
With a lead from the away leg and home support behind them, I cannot see any other result other than a handsome City win against a Schalke side that have been very poor this season in the Bundesliga and the fact they pushed City so hard in the home leg was something of a surprise given how poor they have been in recent games.
As such, I do not expect City to endure too many problems in this one and I feel they will win the game very comfortably, although Schalke may have enough to grab a consolation, though I would not expect this to affect the outcome in any way.
Our Tip – I fully expect Manchester City to do a number on Schalke 04 here and I would be very surprised if City do not score a few goals on the night. I’d back Manchester City to win and both teams to score which is an 8/5 shot with bet365.
Barcelona (0) v (0) Lyon
Barcelona start this game as the hot favourites to progress through to the next round, especially after a somewhat surprising first leg between these two teams. Both Lyon and Barcelona had been involved in a number of high scoring games leading into the first leg, which meant that many felt a fair few goals would be scored at the Groupama Stadium.
As it turned out, the game was a somewhat dour 0-0 draw, which hands Barcelona the advantage heading into the home tie at the Nou Camp, although Lyon have shown in this competition they can beat anybody (especially after defeating Manchester City at the Etihad earlier in the season).
The bookmakers have Barcelona as the big favourites to win this game, but I am not quite so confident they will be that easy winners. Lyon have fought bravely in this competition this season and they beat PSG a few weeks back, I think they could give Barcelona a few problems tonight.
Our Tip – I don’t expect a big Barcelona win here as I fancy Lyon to score a goal to make things very interesting, so instead I am going to go for Barcelona to win but both teams to score once again, which is am 8/5 shot with bet365.
Bayern Munich (0) v (0) Liverpool
After a tough start to the season, Bayern have found their best form at the right time and after a 0-0 at Anfield in the first leg, they will be confident of finishing the job on home soil, against a Liverpool side whose recent form away from home hasn’t been the most impressive.
In the Champions League, the Reds have lost all of their last four on the road, five if you count the final against Real Madrid in Kyiv last year, and their last three away performances have seen draws with West Ham, Man Utd and Everton in the Premier League too.
Liverpool’s problem seems to be in midfield with a lack of creativity when Klopp plays with Fabinho, Henderson, Wijnaldum and/or Milner. I can’t see the German going with Lallana or Shaqiri instead and if he doesn’t, I feel the Reds chances of success here are going to be minimal, especially against a Bayern side that beat Wolfsburg 6-0 in the Bundesliga at the weekend.
Our Tip – Bayern Munich are flying at the moment in the Bundesliga and looked accomplished at Anfield, while nullifying the Liverpool threat. I am backing the German side to get the job done here with a narrow win and you can back Bayern to win on the night at 23/20 with bet365.
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