The remainder of the round of 16 this week will see who else will join Manchester City, Liverpool, Juventus and Real Madrid in the quarter Finals. This weeks round of fixtures, aside from Bayern Munich, are going to be very close come the final whistle. Chelsea & Barcelona are locked at 1-1 with Barcelona’s away goal certainly putting them in a very good position. Sevilla and Manchester United couldn’t be split in their scoreless draw and the return leg will likely follow a similar trend where goals will be difficult to come by. One game where things may open up a little more will be Shakhtar Donetsk and Roma with the first leg finishing 2-1. Roma’s away goal is important but both need goals in order to qualify for the next stage so we should see opportunities in this one.
**Odds from Sportsbet.com.au as of 12th March
Manchester United vs Sevilla
The home side are very well placed heading into this match coming off a massive win over rivals Liverpool at the weekend. For Sevilla, they’ll need to be at their best to have a chance of taking something from this match and qualifying for the next stage. Form wise, they have been a little patchy of late losing 2 of their last 4 games after their first leg scoreless draw with United. Their 2-0 loss to Valencia at the weekend is hardly a great build-up to such an important away match here either. It’ll be a close match on the scoreboard but it’s difficult to not see anything other than a Manchester United win, they’ll have the edge at home and the defensive strength to get the job done. Sevilla’s best chance is really to approach this with nothing to lose. An away goal could play a crucial role but actually getting that away goal will be hard to come by.
Predicted Result: Manchester United 1-0
Best Bet: Manchester United to win $1.57
Best Value Bet: Manchester United to win to Nil at $2.5
Roma vs Shakhtar Donetsk
This is the closest looking match of the week because it looks more likely to go either way compared to any of the others. The first leg was produced a number of chances to both sides with 15 attempts apiece. Roma are coming off some good wins as well with a 3-0 win over Torino and a 4-2 win over Napoli prior to that. Shakhtar are in as equally good form but this will be a difficult test for them where the away goal remains a crucial factor for both sides in their quest to qualify for the Quarter Finals. Expect Roma to take the initiative early in this one but Shakhtar are a dangerous side that would be hard pressed to not score here. Of all 4 matches this week, this looks the most likely to go to extra time and from there anything can happen.
Predicted Result: Roma 2-1
Best Bet: Over 2.5 goals at $1.57
Best Value Bet: Roma to score exactly 2 goals at $3.1
Besiktas vs Bayern Munich
Besiktas have nothing to lose here so they’ll be going hard to try and get some pride from the match at the very least. Being 5-0 down though already looks like an impossible task, not least because it’s against Bayern Munich. The German side were helped by the red card in the first leg, but really they were already looking pretty good to go on and win that leg regardless. For Bayern, expect some shuffling of the squad but don’t expect anything other than an away win here.
Predicted Result: Bayern Munich 2-1
Best Bet: Bayern Munich to win at $1.53
Best Value Bet: Half-Time/Full-time Bayern Munich/Bayern Munich at $2.1
Barcelona vs Chelsea
Chelsea did well to hold Barcelona to a 1-1 draw in their first leg, but this could be a match that is ready to explode. For Chelsea to win here and get through to the next stage would be a massive upset and whilst they held Barcelona in the first leg, their form overall this season doesn’t give one much confidence that they could pull off such an upset. Messi’s late away goal gives Barcelona a massive edge heading into their home fixture and with Chelsea needing to score in order to make it through to the next stage, there will be goals to had here. Chelsea are in a difficult position that is only going to feel more difficult as the match goes on. Barcelona to win well here.
Predicted Result: Barcelona 3-0
Best Bet: Barcelona win and Over 2.5 goals at $1.9
Best Value Bet: Barcelona -1 handicap at $2.1