Champions League Betting – PSG, Man City Have All to Play For

Paris Saint-Germain (+138) at Manchester City (+179), Draw (+254)

The situation for PSG and Manchester City in the second leg of their Champions League quarterfinal is pretty simple: win and you’re in(to the semis). The powerhouse clubs will conclude their two-game aggregate goal series today at Etihad Stadium in Manchester (2:45 PM Eastern).

After a 2-2 draw in Paris last week, the stage is set for a great second leg. In reality, I oversimplified the situation in the intro. Thanks to scoring two away goals, City would advance with a 0-0 or 1-1 draw today (thanks to the away goals rule), so PSG will be forced to attack.

The French side should be comfortable with that dynamic, though; they’ve scored 83 goals in just 33 Ligue 1 matches and have tallied 18 in nine UCL games. They’ve also been great away from home in this UCL campaign, winning three of four road games (falling only at Real Madrid). Indeed, they just picked up a win in England during the Round of 16, beating Chelsea 1-2 in London.

The Citizens have never reached the semis in the Champions League, and haven’t been dominant at home this year (2-1-1 in UCL play).  They beat Sevilla and Monchengladbach while losing to Juventus in group play; then they drew Dynamo Kiev in the Round of 16.

For City, striker Sergio Aguero (calf) and midfielder David Silva (ankle) are listed as questionable. Both are expected to play but won’t be at 100-percent.

For PSG, defender David Luiz and midfielder Blaise Matuidi are suspended while midfielder Marco Verratti (groin) will be a game-time decision.

PSG have played better over the course of the year aren’t prone to the let downs that Man City have suffered from this year (especially in the Premier League).  Take the French side to win in England yet again.

Pick: PSG (+138).

(Photo Credit: Jon Candy (Flickr: DSC04205) CC BY-SA 2.0 [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons].)