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Champions League Odds – Barcelona vs. Ajax

Zack Garrison

by Zack Garrison in News

Updated Jan 17, 2018 · 9:40 AM PST

After a painful lost to Paris Saint-Germain (3-2), FC Barcelona will host Ajax in the third fixture of Group F in the UEFA Champions League. The game goes this Tuesday, October 21, in the Camp Nou at 2:45 p.m. Eastern.

Barca and Ajax have met twice previously in the Champions League, with each team winning one. Home-field advantage proved decisive in both games. Barcelona will be on home turf this time around and the Blaguranas are the heavy favorites to win, listed at -800 in the moneyline. The Dutch squad is +2500 and the draw +850.

After the loss to PSG, Barcelona head coach Luis Enrique said his team made big mistakes and deserved to lose.

“We made some mistakes while building from the back, mistakes that we simply can’t afford against opponents of this caliber, who are very strong at set pieces. Paris did not surprise me: I know their potential. They are candidates for the Champions League title,” said Luis Enrique.

On the other side, Ajax has neither won nor lost in its Group F fixtures, drawing both PSG (1-1) and Apoel Nicosia (1-1). Ajax coach Frank de Boer said the pressure is on the Barca heading into Tuesday’s game.

“We have to take our chances if we want to move into the next round. This is the reality of top-level football. Things are still open in this group; the pressure is also on Barcelona now. We have to play well in our next games to get the right results. I told my players after the match that if we play like we did tonight in our remaining games, then I am convinced that every opponent will have a difficult night against Ajax,” said the de Boer who, coincidentally, played for both Barca and Ajax during his career.

With all of the draws, Group F is still wide open. Depending on what happens in the PSG-Apoel Nicosia game, the winner of this game could find themselves at the top of the group come Wednesday. Barcelona is currently in second place in the group with three points (1W, 0D, 1L). Ajax is in third place with two points (0W, 2D, 0L). Both teams are level on goals.

Though the moneyline is quite low, betting on Barcelona to win is the best option.

(Photo credit: Shai Pal [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)] via Wikimedia Commons)

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