CHAMPIONS LEAGUE BETTING PICK - BARCELONA V PSG

Champions League

2013-04-10 - Barcelona vs PSG

A Sports Betting Pick by ROzsolt

Barcelona v Paris Saint-Germain
Football : Champions League: Quarter finals
Venue: "Camp Nou", Barcelona
Wednesday 10th April – Kickoff time: 20:45 GMT+1

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Barcelona

Barcelona did better in the first leg of the quarter finals in Paris compared to their round of 16 clash in Milano (0-2), but they still couldn’t record a victory.

The Spanish giants were in control for most of the time in Paris, but Blaise Matuidi's last-gasp equaliser gave PSG some hope heading into the second leg.

In the likely event of a home victory (or a low scoring draw), Barcelona would make a semi final appearance for the sixth successive time.

They hold a solid W5 D1 L1 record against French opponents when playing at home and are also undefeated in 20 UCL home outings, winning 16 of those games. Their previous visit from a Ligue 1 side came in 2009 when Barcelona recorded an impressive 4-1 second leg victory in the round of 16.

Pedro Rodríguez is available after a one-match ban, but the injured Javier Mascherano is suspended after collecting his third yellow card in Paris. Lionel Messi is a doubt, but he will more likely recover in time.

Probable Barcelona line-up:

Valdés
Alves, Piqué, Song, Alba
Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta
Messi, Fàbregas, Villa

PSG

PSG have drawn the home first leg ten times in UEFA competition and won five of those ties on aggregate, so I guess they can feel confident before this match if we only consider stats.

However, I don’t think they’ve ever faced a side this powerful. PSG really felt Barcelona’s strength in the first leg, the French side never gave the impression that they could actually win that match.

This will be PSG’s second travel to Spain during this term, they’ve managed to pick up a 2-1 win in the previous round against Valencia. Their overall record against Spanish opponents (away from home) stands at W4 D1 L3.

Carlo Ancelotti will be without the midfielder that grabbed PSG’s 94th minute goal in the first leg, Matuidi serves a one-match suspension having collected his third yellow card of the season.

Probable PSG line-up:

Sirigu
Jallet, Alex, Silva, Maxwell
Moura, Beckham, Chantôme, Pastore
Ibrahimovic, Lavezzi

The Betting Verdict

I think the first leg was a clear indicator of the strength of these two sides, under normal circumstances Barcelona should have no problems defending their advantage, I guess that anyone who saw the first leg would agree with me.

However, Barcelona is not the kind of team that will sit on their away goals advantage, they will surely try to outscore PSG at the Nou Camp, expect them to have the initiative once again.

We’ve seen Barcelona demolishing a defensive minded AC Milan side in the previous leg (4-0), so I can only imagine they’ll manage to score at least a couple of times against a PSG side that will need to take chances in order to keep their hopes alive.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

BEST BETTING TIP :

Take Both teams to score at 1.80 at Bet365
Confidence: 7/10

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