Four more UCL Round of 16 ties conclude on Wednesday and we take a look at each game including Liverpool v Galatasaray, Bayern Munich v Atalanta, Spurs v Atletico Madrid and Barcelona v Newcastle
Liverpool v Galatasaray
Galatasaray lead this tie 1-0 after edging the first leg in Istanbul last week. Mario Lemina scored after just 7 minutes and although both sides had what they thought were goals chalked off by VAR that’s the way it stayed. The stats show Liverpool registered 6 shots on target to Gala’s 4 and Gala were awarded 7 corners to Liverpool’s 4.
Liverpool finished third in the League Phase with 6 wins and 2 defeats to qualify automatically for the Ro16. Aside from losing 1-0 away to their opponents here they put in a shocker in a 4-1 home defeat to PSV but were otherwise foot perfect.
Gala came through a thriller of a play off with Juventus to reach the last 16. They won the first leg 5-2 on home turf but in Turin they were 3-0 behind at the end of regulation time. The game went into extra time where Gala found 2 goals, losing 3-2 on the night but going through 7-5 on aggregate. Gala finished 20th in the league phase with a record of 3 wins, 1 draw and 5 defeats. Those wins came in Rounds 2, 3 and 4, at home to Liverpool (1-0) and Bodo (3-1) and away at Ajax (3-0).
Twice these teams have met, twice I’ve expected goals and came up well short. Perhaps that will change as things have to be settled on the night and this time we are at Anfield but I’m shying away from that and thinking the first leg hero Lemina will find himself in the book.
Bet: Player to be carded Mario Lemina at 39/20 with Sportingbet
Bayern Munich v Atalanta
This tie is surely all over after Bayern won the first leg in Italy 6-1. They scored 3 goals in each half including 2 for Michael Olise and Bayern had declared on half a dozen long before Atalanta’s consolation through Mario Pasalic in injury time. Harry Kaane, recovering from a knock, was an unused substitute.
Bet: No bet for me here
Spurs v Atletico Madrid
A disastrous first 22 minutes during which time Spurs subbed their goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky and conceded 4 goals has left the EPL side with the proverbial mountain to climb. The final score in the first leg in Madrid ended up 5-2 in Atletico’s favour with Alvarez scoring twice and Marcos Llorente, Antoine Griezmann and Robin le Norman were also on target. Spurs goals came from Pedro Porro in the first half and Dominic Solanke in the second.
Despite their troubles in the EPL Spurs had a solid Lague Phase campaign and with a record of 5 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat they finished fourth to qualify automatically. Four of those wins came in home games where each victory was accompanied by a clean sheet whilst on their travels they won at Frankfurt, drew at Bodo and Monaco and their only defeat came at PSG.
Atletico had to take the play off route to qualify for the Round of 16 and after drawing the first leg of their clash with Club Brugge 3-3 they ran out 4-1 winners in the return in Madrid. In the league phase Atletico won 4, drew 1 and lost 3 of their matches and they faded in the later rounds to finish 14th.
At the weekend Spurs picked up a useful draw away to Liverpool in the EPL, the first time they have avoided defeat since Igor Tudor took over as interim coach but they remain just outside the bottom 3. That is encouraging but to me there is too much to do here although my betting play is for both sides to score and either team to win.
Bet: Both team to score and either team to win at 27/20 with Sportingbet
Barcelona v Newcastle
After last week’s first leg at St. James Park we are all square at 1-1. We had to wait 86 minutes for a goal and it was Harvey Barnes who put Newcastle in front but deep int injury time Barca were awarded a penalty which was converted by Lamine Yamal. They were only 6 shots on target including 4 for Newcastle and the EPL side were awarded 9 corners to Barca’s 4.
Barcelona qualified automatically with a League Phase record of 5 wins,1 draw and 2 defeats to finish fifth. Despite getting off to a flyer with a 2-1 away win over Newcastle they dropped points in defeats at home to PSG and away to Chelsea and also in a draw at Brugge before they won their last 3 matches to make up the lost ground.
Newcastle won 4, drew 2 and lost 2 of their League Phase matches and finished 12th. In the play offs they made short work of Qarabag, putting the tie to bed with a 6-1 away win in the first leg and they also won the return 3-2.
A good effort from Newcastle in the first leg but they will need something special to go through after conceding that late penalty. To me this game looks perfect for Joelinton – to pick up a card.
Bet: Player to be carded Joelinton at 6/4 with Sportingbet
Note odds quoted are subject to change