Champions League Betting – Can Bayern Battle Back?
By Zack Garrison in News
Updated: January 17, 2018 at 9:39 am ESTPublished:
Atletico Madrid (+459) at Bayern Munich (-154), Draw (+260)
By the end of Tuesday, we’ll know the first finalist for the 2016 UEFA Champions League final. Atletico Madrid hold a slim 1-0 lead over Bayern Munich after holding serve in Spain last week. The two continental powers will now meet for the second leg tomorrow at Allianz Arena in Munich (12:45 PM Eastern).
The 1-0 result was exactly what Atletico were hoping for, emerging with the win and keeping high-scoring Munich from an away goal. Saul Niguez had the lone tally in the 11th minute. Bayern dominated possession, especially in the second half, and even hit the bar on one chance, but they couldn’t find the equalizer.
No one will accuse Atletico of playing pretty soccer under defensive savant Diego Simeone, but as long as the team keeps winning, Spanish fans won’t complain. Atletico followed up their first-leg win with a 1-0 home victory over Rayo Vallecano in La Liga action on the weekend, keeping them firmly in the hunt for the league title. They remain tied with Barcelona on points (85), but trail on goal differential (75 to 44).
The win over Vallecano was the sixth straight clean sheet for the team between La Liga and the Champions League.
Bayern Munich have dominated the German Bundesliga all year, but haven’t been faced with a defense like Atletico’s, either domestically or to-date in the Champions League. Needing at least two goals to move onto the finals now (or a lone tally plus penalty kicks), manager Pep Guardiola is preaching patience. Instead of trying to force the issue when they have the ball, Guardiola would like to see his boys wait for holes to open up.
They might be waiting a long time, though. Atletico only gave up three goals during six Group Stage matches, and another two in the knockout phase (both the Barcelona). They’re 16 goals against is far and away the best mark in La Liga. (Barcelona is second at 29.)
Atletico hasn’t lost a game by a two-goal difference since February 2015. I see Bayern Munich winning this game, but not by two goals.
Pick: Bayern Munich (-154).Â
(Photo Credit: Anas Alsaidy (Flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/].)
Sports Writer
Zack is a tour guide whose favorite sports are football, baseball, and golf. He enjoys giving obnoxious commentary during games and hopes to some day write a book about sports. His favorite underdog victory was the Diamondbacks beating the Yankees in game 7 of the World Series.
