Two of Europe’s biggest soccer teams clash at the Camp Nou today when Barcelona of Spain host Italy’s Juventus in what is a rematch of the 2014-15 Champions League final. The game that day went the way of Barcelona who ran out 3-1 winners to get their hands on the Champions League trophy for the fifth time in their history... Bovada price both of these sides at +650 joint third favorites to emerge victorious, yet talk about both teams has centered around happenings off the pitch instead of building up what they can do on the field of play.
With home advantage, Barcelona are -180 favorites to emerge with all three points, with the draw priced at +500 and an away victory for Juventus weighing in at +500. Barcelona have won all three of their opening La Liga fixtures, scoring nine goals and keeping three clean sheets, but we all know there are only three or four teams in Spain capable of beating the Catalan giants on their day.
Lionel Messi already has five goals in three games, helping to somewhat quell all the talk of Neymar’s world record departure to Paris St. Germain. Messi finished as the runner-up in last year’s Champions League Golden Boot and when odds become available for this year’s competition, you could do much worse than backing the diminutive Argentinian. Incidentally, Messi is +300 to be the first goal scorer today and -120 to put the ball in the Juventus net before the end of play.
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Barcelona will be hoping that there isn’t a remake of last season’s quarter finals when Juventus put on the perfect defensive display to frustrate the Spaniards and hold them to a 0-0 draw, progressing to the semi-finals after beating Barcelona 3-0 in Turin. Juventus have lost a couple of key defenders while Barca' have Ousmane Dembele in their squad now so I would expect them to get on the score sheet at some point in this game.
Honors between Barcelona and Juventus are even over the last nine battle, with both sides winning three games and there being three draws; both teams have scored 10 goals in those nine games.
Unlike last season when Juventus splashed out a club record £81 million for Gonzalo Higuain, this season has been more about who the Old Lady has let go. Leonardo Bonucci was seen as a key factor in Juventus’ excellent defense but he joined AC Milan in the summer, while right winger Kingsley Coman also departed and now calls Bayern Munich home. Juventus have also strengthened their midfield with PSG’s Blaise Matuidi and he should be able to thwart some of Barcelona’s relentless attacks, but I just cannot see the Italians holding out for the full 90-minutes.
Paulo Dybala scored twice against Barcelona in that 3-0 quarter-finals victory last term and already has seven goals in four appearances this season. The Argentinian looks to be +600 to open the scoring and +175 to register a goal in 90-minutes. I particularly like that second bet and think it is a good one to make considering Juventus are likely to play a counter attacking style that could yield positive results as the game draws on. A couple of other bets worth researching yourself are Lionel Messi to score and Barcelona to win at +160, Luis Suarez to score and finish on the winning side at +175 and both teams to score but Barcelona to grab all three points at +225.
Regardless if you are having a bet or not, if you have the opportunity to watch this soccer match take place, you should do everything in your power to see the action unfold before you because it has all the hallmarks of being a tantilizing match, one with several of the world’s best players being on the same pitch.
Category : Betting Picks
Tag : Barcelona , Champions League betting , juventus , Lionel Messi , uefa champions league
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