English raiders have been knocked back more times than Honey G’s applications for The Jump in the Champions League recently and Man City are the latest side to try their luck tonight.
This competition has been a tough nut to crack for Premier League outfits and since Chelsea’s miraculous win in 2012, no English club has appeared in a Champions League final. It leaves you wondering who (if anyone) can break the strangle hold on the tournament that Spain’s top three seem to have.
Tonight’s games see Man City welcome Ligue 1 leaders Monaco, while Bayern Leverkusen host Spanish powerhouses Atletico Madrid at the BayArena.
With two tantalising ties ahead we’ve delved into the stats and come up with a delightful double that could deliver for our customers at just over 5/1. Let’s call our shot…
All the best Champions League odds are on PP.com
Man City v Monaco, BT Sport 2, 7.45pm
Before the start of this year’s Champions League, you would have believed that Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City were probably the best equipped out of the four Premier League entrants to have a real cut off winning it all.
While their domestic form has been a bit hit-and-miss this campaign, City’s home form in the Champions League has been rock solid so far. Seven of the nine points they qualified from Group C with came at the Etihad and they will be praying it holds up against French aristocrats Monaco tonight.
To Monaco’s credit they’ve been utterly outstanding all season and they hold a three-point cushion at the top of Ligue 1 over PSG. They’ve only lost three times in the league and led by a resurgent Radamel Falcao you only have to ask Spurs fans (who are probably still blaming Wembley) how hard they are to beat.
However, we can’t help but think that Man City’s recent upturn in form and greater squad depth will carry them through tonight. So, we’re going with them to have Monaco feeling the blues at 8/13 as our double’s opener.
It's #UCL game day!!
At 2:45pm ET / 20.45 CET, the #Werkself will kick off against @atletienglish in the BayArena!#B04Atleti #nextLEVel pic.twitter.com/0DGJhD7Ok8
— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) February 21, 2017
Bayer Leverkusen v Atletico Madrid, BT Sport 3, 7.45pm
Whenever this pairing get together in Europe, history shows us that things are tighter than Arsene Wenger’s wallet.
The duo swapped 1-1 draw in the Europa League at the start of the decade and when they met in the Champions League a couple of seasons ago, Atletico needed penalties to progress to the quarter-finals after a pair of 1-0 home victories in the tie. Do you see where we’re going with this?
Leverkusen have made the BayArena an absolute fortress in this competition, losing only one match in their last 12 Champions League run outs there. While Atletico have drawn four of their last five away games.
This all has us sniffing a 21/10 stalemate tonight and we’re sure Diego Simeone would snap your hand off for that.
Double summary: Man City win, Bayer Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid to draw.