The Champions League returned to action last week, and it made great viewing for fans of English football. With three sides returning to the competition and picking up big results, the Premier League is in great shape in European competition. However, last week was just the first half of the last 16 ties, which all have second legs to be played. The next eight sides in the first knockout round are back in action this week.
Once again, we have plenty of highlights across the weeks’ four big Champions League matches. While this batch of matches can’t quite compete with the meeting between Real Madrid and PSG, there are some difficult matches for English sides against La Liga opposition. Can they get the better of two recent European trophy winners, or will the Premier League’s great return in Europe come to a crashing halt? Ahead of the midweek clashes, here is our preview and predictions on each first leg.
Tuesday 20th February 2018
Chelsea v Barcelona (19:45) – Under 2.5 Goals (10/11 with Coral)
Chelsea were the only English side to finish second in their group, and as a result they’ve been given the toughest last 16 tie. They host La Liga leaders Barcelona on Tuesday night, with the Catalans widely backed for an away win against the Premier League champions. While it’s tempting to back against this Blues outfit after some of their recent results, we are not wholly convinced that Barca are too well set up for big European away games. But they could still have enough in their armoury to come here and record a heavy win.
Recent form suggests that the visitors aren’t great when playing away in Europe. In fact, they’ve won just one of their last five away in this competition. In that time, no Barca player has scored a goal. They’ve drawn four blanks, and benefitted from a Sporting Lisbon own goal. That has helped the Catalans into the last 16, but now they face a side who Antonio Conte will have drilled in preparation for a defensive examination this week. While the away side have great attacking talent, they can’t seem to crack European away games. With that in mind, our tip here is to back under 2.5 goals, which is priced at 10/11 with Coral.
Bayern Munich v Besiktas (19:45) – Bayern & BTTS (21/10 with Betfair)
Besiktas were the surprise group winners this season, but they topped a group including Porto, 2017 semi-finalists Monaco and Bundesliga side RB Leipzig. They did so with impressive attacking form, and it is for that reason that we expect the Turkish side to score in Munich this week. They’ll be travelling here hoping to keep things tight going into a nightmare second leg for the German side, but that doesn’t mean that the Turkish side will be approaching this one with a defence-first mentality.
Besiktas didn’t have any trouble taking risks in the last round, and they should see signs of aging in this Bayern side. However, those signs have been slightly covered over by the return of former boss Jupp Heynckes, who won this competition with the Bavarians in 2013. He’s likely to inspire a push in Europe now that he is back for the season, and we expect Bayern to claim the first leg win they desperately need. We’re backing a home win and both teams to score in Tuesday’s other fixture, which is priced at 21/10 with Betfair.
Wednesday 21st February 2018
Sevilla v Man United (19:45) – Draw (21/10 with Ladbrokes)
Can Jose Mourinho cast the shackles off his side in order to claim a win away against Sevilla this week? This competition is quickly becoming United’s focus this term, and they’re heavy favourites to make the last eight. Having seen Liverpool come here and race into a lead against this Sevilla outfit, you do have to wonder if Mourinho would be justified in asking his men to go all out in this first leg. However, that feels like too much of a risk for a pragmatist like the Special One. He’d rather escape unscathed ahead of winnable second leg at Old Trafford in three weeks’ time.
We saw Liverpool draw home and away with Sevilla in the group, and we see a similar result for United here. Mourinho would be more than pleased with a draw from this clash, as it would tee his United team up for progression when they next meet. We don’t think the Portuguese boss will rock the boat here, but he could well park the bus. As a result, we think the best way to go on this clash is to back the draw, which is currently available at 21/10 with Ladbrokes.
Shakhtar Donetsk v Roma (19:45) – Under 2.5 Goals (4/5 with Betfair)
Roma are the favourites for this tie, and we’re very interested to see how they approach it. The Serie A side probably won’t go all out in this first leg, especially judging by their trips in Italy this term. They’ve been in good form on their travels this term, but that’s mainly down to their strong defensive displays. While UK fans will likely remember the Giallorossi for their 3-3 draw at Chelsea, that was an unusual result for them too.
Roma have seen under 2.5 goals scored in 82% of their away games in the league this season. Keeping things tight in Ukraine is likely to be their main aim, as they’ll be confident of finishing off the job in the home leg in three weeks’ time. We expect Roma to get over the line with a solid result in this trip, and we aren’t expecting it to be a pulsating one. Shakhtar aren’t exactly set to come flying out of the traps either, so we see under 2.5 goals at 4/5 with Betfair as the best bet on this clash.