CHAMPIONS LEAGUE BETTING PICK - BARCELONA V SCHALKE

Champions League

2008-04-09 - Barcelona vs Schalke

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

FC BARCELONA VS SCHALKE
UEFA Champions League - Quarter-Finals
Wednesday 9th April 2008 - KO 19:45 GMT

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BARCELONA

Barcelona come into this match with the prospect of a mouth-watering Semi Final clash with Manchester United very close to coming into fruition. The Catalan club failed to capitalise on Real Madrid's dropping points this week as they were held to a 0-0 draw with Getafe, leaving them 7 points behind with 7 games left.

Barcelona are 13-1-2 at the Nou Camp this season where they have scored 38 goals and conceded 9. They have the best home defence in Spain. In Europe, Barcelona have won all 4 of their home games including a 1-0 home win over Celtic in the last round after coming back with a 2-3 away win.

Barcelona have been inconsistant of late, losing 4 of their last 9 games in all competitions, winning 3 of them. They have only lost 1 of their last 11 games at the Nou Camp, winning 7 of those games. Barcelona have also managed to keep 7 clean sheets from their last 11 home games in all competitions, and have also kept 3 clean sheets from their 4 home games in Europe.

Ronaldhino is missing for Barcelona and looks set to miss the rest of the season. Lionel Messi is not back yet but claims he is close to a return as he is already back in training. Deco is also out, but both him and Messi should be back in time for the Semi Final if Barcelona can negotiate this round.

SCHALKE

Schalke will need to turn in an exceptional performance if they are to overturn their defeat at home in the first leg in the Nou Camp. Schalke sit in 2nd place in the Bundesliga, 9 points behind the leaders Bayern Munich with games running out.

They have a 5-6-2 away record, and have score 19 goals while conceding 14 on their travels. Schalke have a 1-1-2 record away from home in Europe, and lost in Porto in the last round before coming through on a penalty shoot out.

Schalke have only lost that game against Barcelona in their last 7 in all competitions. They had been in good form coming into that game last week and have won 5 of their last 7 games. Schalke have gone 3 games unbeaten away from home since losing at Porto and have only conceded 1 goal in those games. However, a trip to the Nou Camp is a daunting prospect for any team and Barcelona are a stronger team than Schalke have faced recently.

Mladen Krstajic and Christian Pander are both doubts and will need late fitness tests to determine their availability. Heiko Westermann has a knock but is expected to start.

HEAD TO HEAD

Barcelona and Schalke met last week in their only meeting.

PREDICTION :

Barcelona will need to secure victory here and I fully expect them to do so. They have a solid defence at home and I think the German team will struggle to score the goal they need.

Barcelona have performed well at home in Europe so far this season and I expect that to continue and set up the meeting with Manchester United in the next round.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

BEST BETTING TIP :

BET: BARCELONA WIN