After almost relentless action from the Premier League, the domestic schedule dies down just long enough to squeeze in some European action. The Champions League and Europa League return this week, with just one English representative in each. Despite that – or possibly because of that – there are some excellent ties in both competitions. There’s more than enough to keep us entertained, especially with the long, barren summer looming.
We know that two potential Champions League winners will go out in the quarter-finals, with arguably the four biggest sides in Europe right now facing each other. Bayern Munich take on Real Madrid on Wednesday, a day after Juventus and Barcelona meet. With huge clashes like that, and much more to look forward to, we’ve decided to put together some both teams to score bets for a midweek accumulator. You can find our predictions, and our reasoning, below.
Tuesday 11th April 2017
- Borussia Dortmund v Monaco (10/21 with Coral) – Monaco’s six goal haul against Manchester City should mean they can cause problems at Dortmund, although the hosts did hit four in their last European tie at home, so we’re predicting a high scoring clash here.
- Juventus v Barcelona (8/11 with Sky Bet) – Juventus are looking to prove themselves against Barcelona, and they have the likes of Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain to cause problems. The Catalans have plenty of attacking stars too, and we see that leading to both teams scoring on Tuesday night.
Wednesday 12th April 2017
- Bayern Munich v Real Madrid (4/7 with Betfred) – Real Madrid tore Bayern to shreds under Carlo Ancelotti in their last trip here, now the European champions face the Italian manager. Bayern conceded home and away to Arsenal, but they scored 10 times in return, so we see another high scoring game between these two potential winners of the trophy.
- Atletico Madrid v Leicester (6/4 with Ladbrokes) – Leicester’s recent form will give them confidence to go out and attack Atletico, and their direct nature should see them cause problems. However, we’re backing the hosts to grab a goal, as they have their eyes set on finally claiming the European Cup.
Thursday 13th April 2017
- Anderlecht v Manchester United (10/11 with Bet365) – Anderlecht have scored in every Europa League game this season, and they’ll be out to extend that against a United side who have looked shaky of late.
- Lyon v Besiktas (8/13 with Ladbrokes) – Lyon showed their attacking strengths and defensive frailties across two entertaining matches with Roma, and we can see the Turkish champions taking advantage of the latter to grab an away goal in France.
- Ajax v Schalke (3/4 with Betfair) – Ajax are pushing for silverware on two fronts, and strong displays at home are crucial in each. However, they’re facing one of the teams fancied to win the Europa League, so we can’t see a clean sheet for the Dutch giants.