Champions League is back!

The greatest tournament of them all is back. Of course I am talking about the Uefa Champions League and the playoff round. 16 of the biggest teams in Europe are remaining and fighting for the final in Rome in May. We can look forward to 4 great battles today and the rest tomorrow (Wednesday). After the returns in two weeks half of these 16 teams will be eliminated.

Today’s games are Inter vs. Manchester United, Arsenal vs. Roma, Atletico Madrid vs. Porto and Lyon vs. Barcelona with all the group winners starting away.

I will give you my best betting advice for these four games that are scheduled today.

Inter vs. Manchester United, Draw @ 3.25

This is the biggest game of them all in this round and whole Europe’s focus is on this game.

My thoughts are that Manchester United is the better and stronger side here but Inter are hard to beat when they are playing home in Milan and Giuseppe Meazza.  Most of the talk before this game is focused on the injury problem that Manchester United have on their defenders. One thing is for sure, Nemanja Vidic is defiantly going to miss this game because of his suspension. The fact that Nemanja will miss this game is a big loss for his team since he’s one of the best defenders in the world right now.

Then we have “injuries” on Gary Neville, Rafael Da Silva, Wes Brown, John Oshea, and Jonathan Evens. But since Evens and Oshea are included in Sir Alex Ferguson’s squad I have a feeling that they will be able to play today.

Inter has a strong team in their attacking play. Players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Adriano, Dejan Stankovic and Muntari, Julio Cruz, Balotelli and so on they have several options forward. But the defence has been their weaker link trough the season. Lucky for them that goalkeeper Cesar is reliable.

My guess is that United are stronger then Inter but that they are satisfied with a draw away and will go for that. That’s why I bet on x here. 

Arsenal vs. Roma, home win @ 1.90

Arsenal is not going that well in Premier League and has difficulties with their attacking play.

Roma was way after the top in the beginning of Serie A but have played better lately and are approaching towards the top.

I think that Arsenals chance to go further in this tournament is to start with a win today. Even though Arsenal has difficulties in the league my guess is that they will succeed in Champions League. That’s have they have been going the last years and they defiantly have enough strong team to beat Roma. I put my bet on the home win here and am hopeful with that.

Lyon vs. Barcelona, away win @ 1.90

Some weeks ago Barcelona was unstoppable in the Spanish League but in the latest rounds they have lost some points to the rivals in the top of the league. But they still have a big lead and don’t have to worry for Real Madrid (yet).

Lyon is a good team and is strong at home. But today they have to tough challenge. One of the best teams in Europe is standing on the other side and even though Barcelona maybe are satisfied with a draw I think they have a god chance to win.

Athletic Madrid vs. Porto, draw @ 3.30

I think that many people think that the Spanish side will take a pretty easy win here, but I have a big respect for Porto. Even though the Portuguese League is way worse then the Spanish Porto always makes god result in European cups.

Athletic hasn’t been going well in the Spanish league and have a tough challenge in this game. Two teams with great offence and maybe lots of goals here, my pick is the draw.

All the odds are picked from Bwin Sports odds

/Best regards Amrish