We had an unlucky week in the UEFA Champions League last week, missing on all three of our bets in some exciting games. Ajax claimed a miraculous 4-1 away win over Real Madrid to book their place in the quarter finals while Manchester United became the first team in Champions League history to advance after losing the first leg of a matchup at home by two or more goals.
The Champions League Round of 16 continues this week with a great slate of games on Wednesday and Thursday morning. We take a look at the key matchups of the week anf give our betting tips here.
Champions League Round of 16 Betting Tips
Juventus vs Atletico Madrid (Wednesday 7am AEDT)
Atletico Madrid took a commanding lead in the series as they won their home leg 2-0 against Juventus last month. Cristiano Ronaldo and his juventus teammates face an early exit from the tournament if they don't turn the fixture around, with the second game set to be played on Wednesday morning from 7am AEDT.
There has been 16 different occassions where a team has won the first leg at home by a scoreline of 2-0 in Champions League history. 13 of those have resulted in that team advancing to the next round of the tournament. However, the three that went the other way have come within the last four occurences.
Juventus start as $1.68 favourites here which is about right given their dominant home record in the Serie A this season. However, Atletico Madrid are the kings of grinding out a low scoring result. They have allowed just 17 goals through 27 matches in the La Liga so far this season, 9 less than any other team and we think they make this an absolutel slugfest away from home.
Total goals UNDER 2.5
$1.71
Barcelona vs Lyon (Thursday 7am AEDT)
One of two matches on Thursday morning that will enter the second leg after a 0-0 draw in the first game. Barcelona will look to advance to their 12th straight quarter final in the Champions League with a win over Lyon at Camp Nou. only a 0-0 draw would send this game to overtime, any other draw will see Lyon advance on the away goal rule while a win to either team would see them advance.
Barcelona have been unstoppable in the La Liga of late, winning their last four games in a row and going undefeated in their last 15. They were 1-0 winners over REal Madrid in the El Classico at the start of March and are yet to lose in this Champions League campaign through seven matches so far.
The Spanish giants start as nearly unbackable $1.20 favourites to win the game in normal time and just $1.17 to advance to the quarter-finals. They were the much better side in leg one of the fixture, racking up 63% possession and firing a massive 25 shots compared to just 5 for Lyon. Tough to bet against the Catalonians here.
Bayern Munich vs Liverpool (Thursday 7am AEDT)
Arguably the matchup of the week sees German giants Bayern Munich facing off against Liverpool at Allianz Arena in Munich on Thursday morning. After a tight battle in the first leg at Anfield, the sides are deadlocked at 0-0, meaning the winner of this clash will advance to the next round. Like the Barcelona game, a 0-0 draw woud send the game to overtime while any scored draw will see the English side advance.
After losing to Manchester City back at the tirn of the new year, Liverpool have been undefeated in their last nine games in a row in the Premier League, highlighted by a dominant 5-0 win over Watford a few weeks ago. They were argubaly the better side in the first leg against Munich as they fired 15 shots and two on goal while the Germans failed to register a shot on target for the entire match.
Tough to seperate the two sides here after the 0-0 draw in the first leg. Bayern Munich start as favourites to win the match, however, as any scored draw would see Liverpool advance, the English side start as favourites to advance to the next round. Bayern have lost just one game at home through 12 Bundesliga games and are yet to be beaten at Allianz in the Champions League this season. We think they hold firm here and advance in regular time.
Bayern Munich to win
$2.02
