Friday 20:00 – Juventus v Lyon: Lyon to Qualify
While Juventus have been fantastic at home in the Champions League through the years (they’ve even gone on to win five of 11 knockout ties after losing the first leg away from home) and they are more than capable of turning this tie around, the prices make me very reluctant to get involved with them.
I’m going to side with Lyon to qualify, they set up very well defensively in the first game between the sides and decided not to man-mark Cristiano Ronaldo. Instead, they just swarmed bodies back around him and limited Juventus to no shots on target in the game.
I expect them to do likewise here and the big bonus is that Memphis Depay returns from injury for the French outfit. If the game is in the melting pot with 15 minutes to go, the Dutch maestro could be a huge threat on the counterattack for Lyon. I wouldn’t put anyone off backing the former Man United man to score here.
Despite clinching the Serie A title, performances and results have not been good from Juve of late. The value is certainly in the Lyon to Qualify market.
Saturday 20:00 – Barcelona v Napoli: Barcelona to win
You can expect Barcelona to come through this tie and win in 90 minutes despite the fact they carry some suspensions into this one. Arturo Vidal misses out after two silly yellows in the first leg and Sergio Busquets is also unavailable through suspension, so you may get a decent price on Barcelona to win.
Quique Setién will probably be forced to the return to the 4-3-2-1 formation that Barca performed in so brilliantly against Villareal earlier in the season.
Luis Suarez should be fit for this game and they way Antoine Griezmann, Lionel Messi and rotated in that Villareal game was fantastic to watch.
Despite the suspension, Barcelona’s midfield will still be packed with quality – with Frenkie de Jong and the intelligent Ivan Rakitić set to operate in the middle of the park. Napoli have been good under Gennaro Gattuso, but the home side should have just too much for the Italians to handle here.
Saturday 20:00 – Bayern Munich v Chelsea: First half to have the most goals
Let’s be honest, Chelsea haven’t got a hope here at 3-0 down on aggregate heading to Munich. The Blues have had a decent season under Frank Lampard, but they haven’t a prayer of progressing here.
Bayern won 11 games out of 11 after the restart and won the German league and cup double.
Only once in 47 games this season have they conceded three goals, that was against Hoffenheim in the cup last February, and Munich still won that game 4-3!
The home side will want to put this one away early and are likely to start with their best side in an effort to do just that to Lampard’s men. They’ll look to do that in an effort to rest their star men come the second half with the quarter-finals in mind and with the price on offer, the first half to have the most goals is quite a tempting proposition.
* Prices on our snazzy new bet widget are bang up to date.
Champions League tips summary:
Juventus v Lyon: Lyon to Qualify
Barcelona v Napoli: Barcelona to win
Bayern Munich v Chelsea: First half to have the most goals
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