Yesterday’s we warned you the sporting headlines wouldn’t stop after the racing finished at the Cheltenham Festival and tonight shouldn’t be any different!
Amazingly Leicester City – sitting 15th in the Premier League – have progressed further than any English outfit in the Champion League so far, making it into the quarter-finals with a 2-0 victory over Sevilla last night. Tonight Manchester City have a chance to join them in the competition’s last eight.
After tipping up an 8/1 winning double yesterday, we’ve decided to have a stab at making it two-for-two and our digging has brought up a sweet little brace that could deliver for our punters at 9/1.
We’re getting a bit brave alright, but let’s explain ourselves…
If tonight is anything like the last time… ? #mcfc pic.twitter.com/lzDdY5LzNZ
— Manchester City (@ManCity) March 15, 2017
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Monaco (3) v (5) Manchester City, BT Sport 2, 7.45pm
The question on most people’s lips heading into this contest is how do they even go about topping their first meeting?
Eight goals, a missed penalty, a moment of Falcao magic and utterly sh**te defending on both sides – it had bloody everything! If tonight’s meeting at the Stade Louis II is half as good we’ll be happy.
We might not get an excellent eight again, but we’re still predicting goals galore because neither side can be kept off the scoreboard it seems. You have to go all the way back to December 7th for the last time Monaco were held to clean sheet, while City are averaging over two goals a game in the Premier League – so expect the onion sack to rattle later.
Pep Guardiola’s men have struggled for wins away in the Champions League this season though, as they went through the group stages without one. We still believe we’ll see Man City in the quarter-finals, but we’re going to tip a Monaco team – who’ve won their last eight in-a-row at home – to claim a victory with both teams scoring at 11/4.
HISTORY. We have played @Bayer04_en five times: 2W, 2T and 1D #UCL #AtletiB04 #GoAtleti pic.twitter.com/hrXexGhqiw
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) March 15, 2017
Atletico Madrid (4) v (2) Bayer Leverkusen, BT Sport 3, 7.45pm
Tonight’s other tie really looks like a ‘Mission Impossible’ job for every Champions League hipster’s favourite team Bayer Leverkusen, as they face Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderón Stadium trailing 4-2 from the first leg.
These Germans though are a far cry from the glory years of players like Michael Ballack, Lúcio and Dimitar Berbatov when they pushed Real Madrid all the way in the 2002 final. This Leverkusen outfit are struggling to stay in the top half of the Bundesliga and were recently battered 6-2 at the hands of Dortmund.
Can you really seeing them over turning this deficit away to the team who were in two of the last three Champions League finals? The answer has to be an empathic ‘no’.
Atletico have claimed eight Champions League victories at home on the spin and the fact that they’ve only conceded one goal in that run has us rounding out our double with them to win to nil at 13/8.
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