Champions League Betting
Group A
Group A tomorrow sees the two group heavyweights do battle with Bayern Munich, the winners in 2001 taking on Juventus. These are two teams whose best years seem to be behind them and it is difficult to see either of them lifting the trophy come May. Bayern are currently 2.05 at this time with Juventus at 3.10. But it is crucial in these sorts of groups to avoid defeat when the big two play each other.
Getting a draw and a defeat in the head to head between the two leading teams in the group can place one of them under pressure and especially when you have a dangerous team in the mix, in this case it is Bordeaux. The French side are at home to Maccabi Haifa and are clearly the favourites at 1.25 with Haifa at 10.00.
Group B
Group B involves Manchester United who are at home to Wolfsburg. The reds have the best Champions League record of any team in Europe over the past three years having lost in the semi-finals to AC Milan in 2007, won the trophy in 2008 beating Chelsea in the final and losing out in this years final to Barcelona.
But questions are bound to be asked when they come up against the very best minus Ronaldo. United are 1.30 which may or may not attract a few people and United have often been frustrated at home in certain group fixtures and Wolfsburg could just be the kind of side to do that.
The draw is 4.50 with the German side at 9.00 which may be value. CSKA Moscow play Besiktas in the other group game and this could be a cagey affair but I expect the Russians to win this and will be difficult to beat at home and are rightly 1.62 with the Turkish side at 5.00 with the draw at 3.50.
Group C
Group C should feature home wins for the two giants of AC Milan and Real Madrid who face Marseilles and FC Zurich respectively. Milan are currently 1.18 and Real are not far behind at 1.20 although the chances of Marseilles springing a surprise in the Bernabeu far outweigh the chances of Zurich getting a result in the San Siro.
They showed what a soft under belly Real Madrid could have when they came back from 3-0 down to 3-2 during the last game before going down 5-2. I think that this is the season that Real Madrid have to deliver, they have spent an estimated £237 million this summer and they are under even more scrutiny than Manchester City.
Group D
Group D features recent past winners Porto and the nearly men of Chelsea! There is no doubt that Chelsea will qualify from this group but their performance at the weekend at Wigan coupled with the close shave that they had against Porto in their opening group game indicates that they are not playing well at this time.
Chelsea travel to Cyprus to take on Nicosia and are 1.25 for the win, which they should get. Carlo Ancelotti has targeted the final as the minimum requirement for the Blues which is something of a bold statement as who you play in the knockout stages can be largely out of your control.
Chelsea have even played Barcelona as early as the second round in recent seasons so one can hardly guarantee a final spot with the quality of competition that there is in the Champions League. Porto versus Atletico Madrid should be difficult to call and the 2004 winners are at home and are favourites at 1.90 with the draw at 3.25. The Spanish side are currently 3.75 and could easily take something from this game. This match will be a crucial fixture in deciding who will qualify along with Chelsea.
//Carl “The Dean” Sampson
