2 big Champions league ties on Tuesday evening with Barcelona travelling to England for their first leg encounter with Man City while Juventus play host to Dortmund in the other tie. For City and Barca this is a repeat of their meeting at the same stage last season but City will be hopeful of turning the tables having bowed out 4.1 on aggregate 1 year ago. Of course back then, the crucial red card of Martin Dimechellis changed the complexion of the tie and I have a feeling that this year, we could be in for a surprise result. I think this could be a really close game on Tuesday and I have a feeling that City are going to edge out their illustrious opponents in a thrilling and competitive match. My gut instinct is for goals also, and in the 2nd leg, it may well still be Barcelona who are favourites to progress with an away goal to take back to the Camp Nou. I have a feeling that City while inconsistent, have the tools to really compete here in this tie and would not be surprised to see them edge to a 2.1 here.
Barcelona were on scinilating form until they were shocked by Malaga at the Camp Nou on Saturday night, losing 1.0 to give City just that little bit more hope, if they did not already need it. Sure they have the best player in the world but they also have Gerard Pique in defence and so I fully expect City to find the net tomorrow. This is not the Barca of circa 2007, or 2012...and they looked limp against a well organised outfit. I don't think City will be overawed by Barca here and I will be backing them on the draw no bet market at 6/4 and will also consider the draw at at a big 13/5 price for small stakes as part of my "dour draws". BTTS is 8/13 and would seem likely as well. For any of you unsure, "draw no bet" simply means backing them to win on reducted odds, but if it's a draw, you get your stake back. Obviously this is a good bet when you are confident in a team (usually an underdog) not to lose and fancy them perhaps to sneak a win. In the evenings other game, Juventus welcome Dortmund to Turin, in a repeat of their famous 1997 final in which Paul Lambert bossed the game and won the European Cup ahead of Zinedine Zidane. Yes really. This is a really tricky tie to call with Juventus clearly the more consistent team this year although Dortmund are mounting a domestic revival with 3 wins from 3 and it is also worth noting that their Champions League form has been excellent this year. I really cannot split these 2, and I expect a hugely fought, close tie that could go as far as extra time and penalties come the return leg in a few weeks. This should be a tight, low scoring affair and a draw here looks the likeliest outcome, and I may look do a low stakes double on both of these games to finish level at slightly over 10/1 odds. I will confirm my final bets closer to kick off tomorrow night, but you can assume they won't change too much unless there happens to be some rather dramatic team news. Bo's Best Bets Man City to beat Barcelona, Draw no bet - 6/4 Man City v Barcelona - BTTS - 8/13 Juventus v Dortmund - draw - 12/5 Juventus v Dortmund - BTTS - 5/6 Comments are closed.
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