Champions League
2016-08-17 - FC Porto vs AS Roma
A Sports Betting Pick by Cruiser
Football: Champions League Qualifying
17th August 2016 – Kickoff time 20:45
Both sides finished third in their domestic championships last season which is why they now need to play in the playoffs. Interestingly this is the first time they will be meeting each other. Of the five matches to be played on Wednesday night, this stands out as the most interesting match.
Porto began their season just last weekend and they managed to beat Rio Aveo away from home by 3-1. That was a good start from them after last season only managing to finish in third place behind the likes of Benfica and Sporting Lisbon. This means that they must now play two additional matches for a place in the group stage of the Champions League, against a very difficult side in AS Roma. If they are not careful they could miss out in the final group stages now.
Last season they finished third in their Champions League group and were then demoted to the Europa League. Then they came up against Borussia Dortmund and were beaten home and away and failing to score in both duels. They were also beaten in the National Cup going down to Braga in the final. That called for a change of coach so they brought in Nuno Santo at the helm.
Meanwhile AS Roma even though have been successful in their friendly matches, but their season have yet to begin. But no doubt that coach Spaletti will be pleased that striker Dzeko is scoring goals and will start this match upfront. They had a good start and ending to the Serie A but could not compete for the title and have to be happy with a third place finishing.
They brought on coach Spalletti in middle of January and they managed to stay unbeaten and then had more wins then drawn matches. Last season they went to the last 16 of the Champions League before they were stopped by eventual winners Real Madrid. The notable departure in the summer was the likes of defender Digne and midfielder Pjanic, while they also brought in some reinforcements. For this match, goalkeeper Szczesny and defenders Rudiger and Mario Rui will miss out due to injuries.
Go for FC Porto on Asian Handicap level ball not to lose this match at 1.66 with BetVictor
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
FC Porto 2-1 AS Roma
