Champions League Betting – Borussia Dortmund vs. Juventus
By Zack Garrison in News
Updated: January 17, 2018 at 9:40 am ESTPublished:
Borussia Dortmund (+125) vs. Juventus (+260) (Draw +240)
The pride of Italian soccer rests squarely on the shoulders of Juventus. Juve will look to earn a spot in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals tomorrow when they take on Borussia Dortmund in the second leg of their two-game Round of 16 matchup tomorrow (2:45 PM Eastern at Signal Iduna Park).
Italian soccer is at one of its lowest points in recent memory compared to their continental and British competition. Having Juve in the quarterfinals would inevitably help Serie A’s laboring reputation.
Juventus has a 2-1 lead from the first leg, but there’s everything to play for in the second game. Dortmund only need a 1-0 win to advance. (The two-game series is decided on aggregate goals with away goals as the first tiebreaker.)
Unfortunately for Juventus, the team will have to hold its lead sans star player Andrea Pirlo (pictured) who is nursing a calf injury.
Juve manager Massimiliano Allegri still has high hopes for his squad, though.
“We know Borussia’s qualities, but it is also a game where we need to score at least one goal, probably two. That means a lot of balance, being in the match and having a bit of luck too,” Allegri explained.
Borussia Dortmund have had a terrible season at home, suffering more losses than wins in the Bundesliga. Their mediocre play continued last week, as they suffered a scoreless draw against Cologne during the weekend.
“After the break we performed better, but in the end we lost a bit of energy. The way we performed then is how we should have played right from the start. Unfortunately we did not do this, so that is why we did not get more than a 0-0 from the match”, said Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp.
Confusingly, Dortmund have been a completely different team in the Champions League. They won Group D with a 4-1-1 record, scoring 14 goals and conceding just four.
It remains to be seen which version of Borussia Dortmund shows up tomorrow.
Juventus are listed at +260 to win in Germany; the home team is at +125, and the draw is +240. Considering Borussia Dortmund have won 11 of their last 14 Champions League games at home (11-1-2), taking the home side to win looks like the best value.
(Photo credit: Ver en vivo En Directo (flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode]. Photo has been cropped.)
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.
