The UCL quarter finals get under way on Tuesday and we take a look at the first leg of the match ups between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich and also Sporting v Arsenal
Sporting v Arsenal
Sporting turned their Round of 16 match up with Bodo Glimt around to take their quarter final place. They lost the first leg 3-0 in Norway but won the return in Lisbon 3-0 to force extra time where they found 2 more unanswered goals to win 5-0 on the night and 5-3 on aggregate. Sporting were 1 of a number of teams who qualified automatically with a record of 5 wins, 1 draw and 2 defeats. They won all 4 of their home games including a visit from PSG, defeats came away to Napoli and Bayern, they drew away to Juventus and a 3-2 win in Bilbao earned a direct route into the Ro16.
Sporting are currently second in Portugal’s top flight, 5 points behind Porto but they do have a game in hand.
The Gunners came up against Bayer Leverkusen in the Ro16. They needed a late penalty to rescue a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Germany before goals from Eze and Rice in the return in London delivered a 2-0 win on the nigh and 3-1 victory on aggregate. Arsenal topped the League Phase winning all 8 matches scoring a total of 23 goals whilst conceding just 4 and their stand out results included home wins over Atletico and Bayern and overseas they won at Inter, Brugge Slavia Prague and Bilbao.
The drawn first leg in Leverkusen is the only UCL match Arsenal have failed to win this season but the alarm bells are ringing domestically after they lost an EFL Cup Final to Manchester City (2-0) and most recently exited the FA Cup after going down 2-1 at Championship side Southampton. They remain top of the EPL but 4 potential trophies has now turned into a max of 2 and this Sporting side have a 100% record in UCL home games.
The Verdict:
There have to be questions against Arsenal right now and this will be a real test. I can make a case for all 3 possible outcomes in the match result market but the one I like most is the draw.
Bet: Match result draw widely available at 28/10
Real Madrid v Bayern Munich
Real won both legs of their Round of 16 match up with Manchester City, taking control with a 3-0 home win the first leg thanks to a Valverde hat trick and a brace from Vinicius Jr helped them to a 2-1 win in Manchester. Real were ninth in the League Phase and took their chances in the play offs where they came through a very stormy clash with Benfica with a 1-0 away win in the first leg and a 2-1 victory in the return in Madrid. They won their first 3 League Phase matches and 5 in total but defeats at Liverpool, at home to their opponents here (2-1) and also at Benfica prior to the play offs saw them slip out of the top 8.
Real haven’t always been convincing in La Liga this season and they have fallen 7 points behind Barcelona in the title race after a 2-1 defeat away to Mallorca at the weekend.
Bayern breezed into the last 8 after dismantling Atalanta, winning the first leg in Italy 6-1 and thee return in Munich 4-1. They made short work of automatic qualification for the knockout rounds, winning 7 and losing just the 1 (to Arsenal who topped the log) to finish clear in second spot. Aside from the 3-1 defeat to Arsenal Bayern scored at least 2 goals in every match including a 2-1 win away to PSG but they kept just the 2 clean sheets.
Bayern are 9 points clear of Dortmund at the top of the Bundesliga standings, they have lost just 1 league game all season and have already rattled up 100 goals.
The Verdict:
Real were excellent in the first leg against Man City but I’m a big fan of this Bayern side if they score first tjeir might not be a way back for the Spaniards. Bayern at half time and full time is my play.
Bet: Half time / full time Bayern / Bayern at 9/4 with Sportingbet
Prices quoted are subject to change