Champions League Betting – Barcelona at Bayern Munich

FC Barcelona (+162) at Bayern Munich (+155) (Draw +250)

The first leg of FC Barcelona’s Champions League semifinal against Bayern Munich was an anticlimactic affair. The Catalans, who entered the game as heavy -175 favorites, dominated the shorthanded German side and emerged with a 3-0 victory. Now, in order to advance to the tournament final, Bayern Munich will need to win by at least three goals when they host Barca at Allianz Arena tomorrow (2:45 PM Eastern).

Barcelona striker Lionel Messi showed why many consider him the best player in the world in the first leg, scoring two highlight reel, second half goals to give his side a 2-0 lead. Neymar added the third in the 90th minute.

Barcelona’s defense was almost as good as its attack, holding Bayern without a shot on target for the full 90 minutes. It was only the stellar goalkeeping of Manuel Neuer that kept the game scoreless through the first half.

Barcelona continued their strong play on the weekend, earning a 2-0 win over Real Sociedad and taking a huge step towards earning the La Liga title.

On the other hand, Bayern Munich’s struggles press on. The Bundesliga leaders suffered a 1-0 defeat against Augsburg after having a man sent off early in the game.

Coach Pep Guardiola snapped at reporters after the game when it was suggested the recent setbacks are overshadowing the early-season successes.

“If a team chase[s] three titles, win[s] the league, reach[es] the German Cup semi-final and the Champions League semi-final, then it is a super, super season,” he said. “Of course, we wanted to win the treble but it is still an amazing season.”

Bayern’s recent slump is largely attributable to injuries. The squad is missing its two key playmakers, Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben, who are both are out for the rest of the season.  Without Ribery and Robben, Bayern is a shadow of the team that destroyed FC Porto during the quarterfinals (6-1) and stomped Shakhtar Donetsk (7-0) in the round of 16.

Of course, Barca manager Luis Enrique isn’t taking his opponent lightly, no matter which of their superstars are sidelined.

“I know we will suffer in Munich,” said Enrique. “I have no doubt about that and neither do my players, because they are a strong rival. It looks like it is difficult for them to win the semifinals, but they could do it against Porto in the quarters,” he said. “So we cannot think it will be easy to progress through.”

Indeed, history isn’t on Barca’s side. The last time they visited Munich, the Bavarians dropped the hammer with a 4-0 win in the 2012-13 Champions League semifinals. That same result would see Bayern advance to the finals in Berlin. Of course, much has changed since then – and Bayern’s recent spate of injuries will play right into Barcelona’s hands, as the Germans are forced to attack without their two best offensive players. Look for Messi, Neymar, and Luis Suarez to light it up on the counterattack.

Pick: FC Barcelona (+162).

(Photo credit: terceroinf fmiralcamp (flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode]. Photo may appear cropped.)