Time for Semi-finals in Champions League!

Its time for the first Semi-final out of two in European Champions League. Two out of four Teams; Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea and Manchester United are two matches away from the finals at Rome and its notable that both final teams from last years tournament is in the semi finals this year.

And just as last year there are three out of four English teams in the semi finals. Even then it was Barcelona that broke the English wall and became the only “non-English” side to go as far as Semi-final. That year they got out kicked by Manchester United, and this year its Chelsea’s turn to try to make even this years final fully English.

Premier League is defiantly the best league in Europe (and of course in the world as well). But I’d really like to se Barcelona in this years final. Not because of that I support them nor because I have anything against Chelsea. The only reason why I hope for Barcelona to go to the finals is that I want to se a Champions League final with two teams from two different countries.

Today I am going to try to give you my best pick for today’s game between Barcelona vs Chelsea in this blogg:

Barcelona vs Chelsea, home win @ 1.60

I try to hold apart my personal feelings from my betting picks when I place a bet. But in this game I really give Barcelona good chances to win and put the pressure on Chelsea before the second game at Stamford Bridge next week.

It seemed like the Spanish players had this game in their minds already against Valencia in their last league game seen to their performance and attitude. They almost played with their best team but still they players looked a bit lost and didn’t went in to the fight with 100 % attitude.

Chelsea won against West ham in a game that was very lucky for them. Beside a penalty-miss from Hammers the Chelsea keeper Petr Cech made lots of great saves and won the game for his Chelsea almost alone.

Chelsea is a strong team at the moment and since their new manager (Guus Hiddink) came to the club they have shown great strength in both Premier League and Champions League. But Barcelona has shown same strength trough out the season and are magical to watch at their best moments. Leo Messi is probably the best player in the world right now and if he is good he can win matches for Barcelona on his own.

My guess is that Chelsea is going to try to defend as far as possible to keep 0 – 0. Probably they think that even if they loose with 1 – 0 they have good chances to turn the game to their favour at home. Barcelona on the other side defiantly is going for an early goal and put some pressure on their opponents just as they did against B Munich in the Quarter finals. And if they can play with same power of attacking football as they showed back there I think that no team can beat them this year. Not even Chelsea or Manchester United.

I assume that the teams will start with following line-up:

Barcelona:

Valdes, Dani Alves – Puyol – Márquez – Abidal , Yaya Touré – Xavi – Iniesta ,Henry – Eto’o – Messi

Chelsea:

Cech, Bosingwa – Alex – Terry – Ivanovic,  Ballack – Essien – Lampard, Anelka – Drogba – Malouda

If I compare the players against each other I think that the Spanish side is the stronger one. As I wrote before, I have big respect for Hiddink on Chelsea’s bench. But I still think that Barcelona’s going to win this game thanks to their home advantage.

The odds are picked from Bwin-football-odds.

Good luck

/Amrish