MARSEILLE v INTER MILAN
Football : Europe : Champions League
Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012, 7:45PM GMT

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PREVIEW

Didier Deschamps is excelling at the mind games in the build-up of this Champions League tie, suggesting the Italians are favourites and that his club have already achieved just by getting to this stage. He knows what he is doing because he is very well acquainted with Inter Milan, and their manager Claudio Ranieri.

Deschamps led his Monaco team to the Champions League finals at the expense of Ranieri's Chelsea in 2004 and it costs Ranieri his job. Deschamps has also been manager of Juventus, so knows this current crop of Italian teams very well, not just from his playing days.

Inter Milan won this tournament in 2010, although that was a Mourinho led team. Ranieri is now trying to match the achievements of the man that replaced him at Chelsea, but it won't be easy because his side just aren't getting it done at the moment. Inter Milan are currently on a awful run that has seen them lose 5 of their last 6 games, including the last one, where they went down 3-0 at home against Bologna.

Perhaps Inter will relax in an away game. It sounds silly but that might be true here, as Inter performed better in the group stages when travelling than when at home. They lost twice at home but managed 7 points away from home. Co-incidentally, Marseille did the exact thing in their group games!

What worries me is the nature of the losses suffered by Inter Milan. They lost 5 of their last 6 games, as I said, but startlingly did not managed even a goal in those games! And the 6th game? Well it was a draw, but they gave up a whopping 4 goals, which is what concerns me, even though they managed to match that number. The Inter defence is not something I have faith in, at the moment.

BETTING VERDICT

I'm going to go against Inter, I think. They are sucking just a little too much and so the prices on Marseille become value.

You can get 2.15 on the Marseille win, which is excellent. I prefer Marseille to qualify over 2 legs, available at 2.40. You can also get the same price on Marseille to score 2 goals in this game.

Take your pick of these, depending on your risk appetite and how long you want to wait for your bet to be settled.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

Marseille to win and qualify

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take Marseille to qualify @ 2.40