The Champions League returns this week and there are some great games to look forward to. Let’s look at the four matches being played and with some betting suggestions included.
Tuesday February 15
PSG v Real Madrid (8pm)
PSG still long to win the Champions League and host a side who have had more wins than any others. A good home result is key for the French team as their Champions League away record isn’t that impressive.
They finished second behind Manchester City in the group stages. All three home games were won but just two points earned on the road. After losing their Ligue 1 title last year, PSG are a street ahead this term, so can concentrate on the Champions League. Lionel Messi scored five goals in the group stages and will relish a crack at Spanish opposition. You can get 1/1 at Betfred on a PSG home win.
Real Madrid had a bad night at home when losing to Sheriff Tiraspol. However, their other five group games were won with only one goal conceded. All three away games were won without letting in a goal and that includes beating Inter. They are out to win a La Liga and Champions League double and a win in Paris is 5/2 at Paddy Power.
Sporting v Manchester City (8pm)
Like PSG, Manchester City long for all those millions spent to win them the Champions League. Last season saw City reach their first final, only to lose to Chelsea. They won their group but did lose away to PSG. City also lost at Leipzig, though a weakened team was fielded as they’d already qualified.
February 12 saw them win 4-0 at Norwich City. Noticeably they left some of their best players on the bench for that game. They’ll be back for this trip to Sporting who edged out Borussia Dortmund to finish second in their group. Sporting were nine points behind Ajax, who put five past them in Portugal. City are 4/5 at BetVictor to win this and there being over 2.5 goals in the game.
Wednesday 16 February
Red Bull Salzburg v Bayern Munich (8pm KO)
If Red Bull are to have any chance in this tie, they need to do well in this home leg. They only earned one point on their travels in their group, when finishing second behind Lille. That fragility on their travels was nearly shown again on Friday. They had to come from behind to get a win at Rapid Vienna.
The following day saw Bayern Munich lose 4-2 at Bochum. They won all six of their group games scoring 22 goals. Bayern need to bounce back from that away loss but should be able to get a win in Salzburg. You can get 10/11 at Bet365 on the Germans winning and being ahead at half and full time.
Inter v Liverpool (8pm)
Liverpool look to win a seventh Champions League game of the season. They won all their group games and couldn’t stop scoring. Liverpool scored at least twice in all their matches, not bad considering they had to play Porto, Atletico Madrid and AC Milan. Now they return to Italy to face Inter and their big guns are back from Africa. With Jota in top form too, they’ll be a handful and are 11/10 at William Hill to win this.
Inter are in the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time since the 2011/12 season. They finished second in their group, losing both games to winners Real Madrid. They are 12/5 at Betfair to win this, but Liverpool are likely to have too much for them.
