The Uefa Champions League play offs get underway on Tuesday and our focus is on the first leg of the clash between Manchester City and Real Madrid
Prices below from Sportingbet are correct at the time of writing but subject to change
Man City
City's 3-1 home win over Club Brugge in the final round of the league phase saw them finish 22nd in the standings. Their defeats came at PSG and (4-2) Sporting (4-1) and they also lost at Juve (2-0) whilst a 3-3 draw at home to Feyenoord saw them let a 3-0 lead slip. City had started with a 0-0 draw at home to Inter and comfortable wins in Bratislava (4-0) and at home to Prague (5-0).
City are currently fifth in the EPL but all of 15 points behind Liverpool who also have a game in hand. They are still involved in the FA Cup and spent heavily before the transfer window closed.
Real Madrid
Real Madrid were also in trouble at one stage but they won their last 3 matches to finish up 11th with a record of 5 wins and 3 defeats. They started with home wins over Stuttgart (3-1) and Dortmund (5-2) either side of a 1-0 defeat at Lille. Back to back losses at home to Ac Milan (3-1) and away at Liverpool (2-0) had the alarm bells ringing but they recovered with wins away to Atalanta (3-2), at home to Salzburg (5-1) and finally away at Brest (3-0)
Real are currently top of La Liga, 1 point clear of Atletico and 2 in front of Barcelona. Their away record in the league comprises of 6 wins, 4 draws and 2 defeats
The Betting
City are currently 21/20 to win the first leg with the draw at 28/10 and Real are 22/10.
It's 4/10 for both teams to score and 9/20 for over 2.5 total match goals.
The Verdict:
Although City have recovered from a mid season slump to some degree it has always been convincing and they have conceded a lot of goals in this competition. Last season's quarter final match up saw both legs finish all square with Real winning a penalty shoot out in Manchester and I'm sitting on the fence and calling another draw here.
Bet: Match result draw at 28/10 with Sportingbet
Note, prices quoted are subject to change
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