What to Expect in the Champions League quarter-finals?
The UEFA Champions League is the main club soccer tournament of the Old World, where the strongest teams in Europe fight every year and attract a good part of the sports betting community. Last season, it was Chelsea that won the title. Having reached the final unexpectedly enough, in the decisive match, the ‘Blues’ defeated a strong and motivated Manchester City by a narrow margin. The current edition features no less interesting fight for the trophy, with the main favorites showing their ambitions. Who has better chances of winning and which options to choose when betting online on football matches within Europe’s main league? This post will ideally help you sort out these questions.
Approaching the quarter-finals
This season has already seen all eight UEFA Champions League quarter-finalists. Round of 16 confrontations were not without surprises, with Ajax, Manchester United, PSG, Juventus having found themselves on the outside of the playoff picture. The clubs from Spain showed comfortable scores in the first round of playoffs: all three teams made it into the quarter-finals confidently. Having lost two times each, France and Italy will be watching the peripeteia of the decisive stages from the sidelines. Thus, three English (Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool) and three Spanish teams (Real Madrid, Atlético, and Villarreal), as well as Germany’s Bayern and Portugal’s Benfica, will continue the race.
The Champions League quarter-final draw took place in Nyon, Switzerland. And we already know who’s going to play who. London’s Chelsea will face Real Madrid; another Anglo-Spanish clash will feature Manchester City vs. Atletico Madrid, Bayern will play Villarreal, and Liverpool will fight against Benfica.
Experts believe that there are clear favorites in three of the four pairs, and only Chelsea and Real Madrid will be quite equal in strength. Let’s take a closer look at each of the upcoming confrontations separately.
Will Atletico be able to handle the English giant?
The current season turns out to be quite untypical for Atletico. Usually, ‘Colchoneros’ under Diego Simeone tend to play extremely defensive and reliable soccer, which allowed them to win several trophies, including last year’s La Liga. Now they perform surprisingly poorly. Say, goalkeeper Jan Oblak does not ‘carry’ as before and even finds his own net! The Madrid players have to attack a lot, which is pretty unusual for them, as a result, in the league table of the Spanish championship, ‘Indios’ are only the fourth and clearly will not be able to defend the title. The Champions League is another thing, especially its playoff stage. Here, the ‘Indians’ had two excellent matches against the ‘Red Devils’ in the previous round, which allowed them to reach Final 8. Undoubtedly, the ‘Reds’ are noticeably inferior to Man City, both in class and game organization, but Josep Guardiola’s squad suffers a fiasco in the UCL every year, so now, a tremendous sensation can’t be excluded, regardless of the odds speaking in favor of the ‘Citizens’.
Will Chelsea get closer to defending the title?
Another Anglo-Spanish confrontation will feature Chelsea and Real Madrid. The battle between the reigning champs and the most titled club promises to be thrilling. Although the ‘Vikings’ already have 13 titles under the belt, this season, they intend to get the coveted trophy again. What’s more, they have already strengthened their leading positions at the local La Liga, so now, they can fully concentrate on the UCL.
Chelsea’s situation is noticeably worse. Currently, the London club is under sanctions, making it absolutely unclear what condition the ‘Blues’ will be in when they approach the quarter-final battle. Thomas Tuchel’s charges handled Lille very confidently, but the level of the ‘Whites’ is incomparably higher. With this in mind, the ‘Real’ will perform as a favorite here, besides the Spaniards will play the second game at home, which gives them even more advantage.
Will Liverpool manage to seal a comfortable win?
Liverpool is one of the main favorites to win this tournament edition. The ‘Reds’ did not look their best in the first half of the season, but they gained momentum rapidly. All this allowed them to catch up with Man City in the EPL, which seemed unreal, and in the round of 16, they defeated uncompromising Inter.
It seems that Benfica has failed to win the Portuguese title for the fourth year in a row – this season, the ‘Eagles’ are already 12 points behind the leader. It can be considered a real failure. Yes, in the last round, they sensationally beat Ajax, but the Dutch team was not in the best shape, so deservedly lost. Anyway, comparing them with Jürgen Klopp’s team is inappropriate enough.
Will Villarreal spring more surprises?
Having beaten problematic Juventus, Villarreal created a major sensation in the previous round. Surprisingly enough, Unai Emery’s charges simply destroyed the Italian giants. Going by the performance of the current Europa League champion, it becomes clear that every player knows his role very well, so any opponent will have a hard time when meeting this team.
Bayern is rushing to the next Bundesliga title, but the ‘Bavarians’ haven’t looked as flawless lately as they used to – losses to Bochum and Salzburg, the draws with Bayer and Hoffenheim – too many defeats in a short period of time. But still, in the upcoming encounter, the ‘Bavarians’ are odds-on favorites.
Champions League quarter-final betting online
When getting down to Champions League betting, it’s not worth limiting yourself to going by odds and choosing general outcome options. The Champions League has accustomed us to a ‘goal feast’. And the playoffs, despite the high level of responsibility, are not lagging behind in scoring performance, especially in the return matches. That’s why it makes sense to consider Total Over bets in each encounter.
The quarter-finals are going to feature the battles between uncompromising teams, so draw results are unlikely here. It’s better to turn attention to clean score win bets.
And last but not least, when you look at the matches of the giants of world soccer, the home field factor is of secondary importance. If some of the favorites lose the first leg, they may easily come back in the return match, even in the away one. In this case, it is ideal to bet on a zero guest handicap (or a small positive handicap).
So, are you ready to place your bets on the soccer super matches? Then welcome to Cyber.bet, where the best odds and profitable offers are waiting for you!
