Wednesday, 25 February, will be the last day in the current Champions League season for four more clubs. Two Italian teams are immediately under threat, as well as at least one representative from Ligue 1 in France. Where should we expect sensations? Will there be a grand comeback in one of the matches? And what to bet on in the end? The TipsGG analytics team tells you everything.
Atalanta vs Borussia Dortmund
The first leg in Dortmund brought a deserved win for the hosts with a score of 2:0. Raffaele Palladino’s team were not active enough at Signal Iduna Park and are ready to rectify this at their home New Balance Stadium. There are prerequisites: Atalanta beat Napoli in their last match and generally play very high-scoring football at home.
How will Borussia respond? On one hand, we all know that Dortmund are a home team with powerful support from the Yellow-Black sector. But at the same time, the Yellows are no pushovers away either. They may not win, but they won’t let themselves be humiliated. A vivid example – and not the last one – is the away game against Leipzig, when they had to come back from 0:2. And they did it.
Match bet: Atalanta to Win (odds 2.10)
I think something similar will happen in Bergamo: the hosts will win, but Borussia will advance further.
Real Madrid vs Benfica
The Whites played confidently in Lisbon. If we set aside the off-field scandals that accompanied that match, we can state that the Royal Club fully controlled the course of the game. Vinícius’ goal was a true highlight of the evening, but Madrid could have scored many more, while almost no chances arose near Thibaut Courtois’ goal. On Saturday the team played a league match in which they surprisingly lost to Osasuna (1:2) – this was the first defeat under Arbeloa in La Liga.
Benfica, meanwhile, spent significantly less energy in the domestic league. Already in the first half the Eagles removed all questions by scoring three goals against AFS, which allowed José Mourinho to rotate the squad after the break. The Lisbon coaching staff will have to work seriously before the trip to the Santiago Bernabéu. The team’s successful performance in the last round of the group stage differed greatly from what we saw last week in the play-offs. The team’s mood has changed: instead of predators who outplayed Madrid, we saw easy prey for the Blancos. The Portuguese side’s chances of advancing to the next round are rated at 14%.
Match bet: Total Yellow Cards Over 3.5 (odds 1.62)
There is no doubt that the atmosphere in this match will be maximally electrified. The opponents are unlikely to have forgotten the mutual offences from a week ago, and the high stakes will only add fuel to the fire.
Juventus vs Galatasaray
In Turin, the hosts will try to redeem themselves after the crushing defeat (2:5) in Istanbul. The task is extremely difficult – they need not just to win, but to do so convincingly.
Juventus approach the game in crisis – the weekend defeat to Como (0:2) was already the fifth match without a win across all competitions, four of which ended in defeats. The aggregate score in these meetings is 6:15 in favour of the opponents. The Bianconeri’s defence has looked extremely unstable lately: the team not only allows many chances but also frequently makes mistakes in simple situations under pressure.
Galatasaray also lost their last league match (0:2), but coach Okan Buruk wisely distributed the workload and gave key players rest after the first leg against Juventus. True, the team’s top scorer in the Champions League, Victor Osimhen (6 goals), will not play in Turin. However, even without him, the Lions have enough individually strong performers capable of deciding an episode.
Juventus have no choice but to go forward from the first minutes. High tempo, risk and open spaces are inevitable. At the same time, the current state of the Turin defence almost guarantees the opponent at least one real chance. A goal from the guests could finally break the intrigue, as the hosts would then have to go all-in.
Match bet: Both Teams to Score – Yes (odds 1.57) Alternative bet: Galatasaray Individual Total Over 1 (odds 1.98)
Given the scenario of the previous match and the form of both teams, an exchange of goals looks like the most logical option.
PSG vs Monaco
Luis Enrique’s side quickly conceded two goals in Monaco but then not only got back into the game but snatched victory, capitalising on Monaco’s red card. At the weekend the Parisians also won, beating Metz at home in Ligue 1, and returned to the top of the table. In their last five matches across all competitions, Paris Saint-Germain have won four times.
Unlike PSG, Monaco do not stand out for consistency of results: in their last five matches under Sébastien Pocognoli, they have two wins, two defeats and one draw. If we consider that Monaco have not won any of their last five away matches against PSG, it is quite difficult to believe in intrigue in this tie. Plus, the Monegasques have a huge number of squad problems.
Match bet: PSG Handicap (-1.5) (odds 1.67)
Monaco need to open up, which the Parisians will surely take full advantage of. The guests are forced to suffer from a large number of squad issues and their own playing instability. Therefore, it is quite believable that PSG will have total dominance at Parc des Princes.