The Champions League returns and with it some of the best European teams, trying to claw their way to the top. Manchester city will take on Barcelona on Tuesday and it comes as no surprise that the Spanish team is credited in the first chance to advance the next stage. They have experience and a formidable starting formation, so they should outshine the English champions, with the second leg to be played in Spain.
This means that the hosts will need to make the most of home pitch advantage and claim all three points in Manchester to stand a chance. The good news is that they have all three strikers fit to play and strange as it might sound, they will use all of them from the first minute. Dzeko and Jovetic shook off their injuries and Aguerro is also capable to play, so the host will throw everything they’ve got at the visitors and hope that Barcelona will crack under pressure.
By now, it is pretty obvious that their chances of winning the Premier League are slim to none, as Chelsea has a commanding seven point lead. Mourinho is not the kind of coast to allow such a massive lead go down the drain, so the runners-up will probably have to settle for the second place and a direct qualification in the Champions League groups.
Making the most of their current participation is the task at hand, but recent results are disappointing and the inability of keeping clean sheets is downright worrisome. Barcelona is scoring an average of three goals per match and has extended his winning streak to 10 in a row, so they are entitled to be optimistic ahead of this fixture. Even though they got what it takes to win the return leg, the Spanish will go for outright victory in England.
Neymar and Messi have scored a total of 14 goals so far and they will be joined by Suarez, so punters can expect an explosive game with plenty of goals. Betting on more than 2.5 goals to be scored is one choice, but the odds are not spectacular, so it is better to credit Barcelona to win on the road at odds that exceed even value.
