Champions League Odds – Barcelona at Manchester City
The best matchup of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 features Manchester City and Barcelona clashing to stay alive in the biggest soccer competition in Europe. The first leg of the series is this Tuesday at 14:45 PM ET at the City of Manchester Stadium.
City gets to this game after beating Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea during the weekend with a 2-0 result at the FA Cup. The citizens know Barcelona is the favorite to advance the stage, but they like their chances anyways.
“Barcelona know how to manage these [situations] because they have been such a strong club for so long and for us it is the first time [in the elimination round]”, said City’s midfielder Yaya Toure about facing his former team.
“We don’t want to put pressure on ourselves because clubs like Madrid and Barcelona have a big history. We want to be at that level. Our goal is to become one of the big fish”, he added.
Barcelona has advanced to the quarterfinals in the last six seasons in a row; however, this season there haven’t been quite as dominant as in the past.
“City have good players – but they will never be Barcelona. They are a modern football club built on big transfer fees – but at Barcelona there is a history and class that dates back a long way”, Barcelona’s Dani Alves said.
Man City is listed +180 in the moneyline to win this first leg at home; meanwhile Barcelona is +140 and the draw is +240.
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.
