UCL Odds: Juve, Barca In Tough Quarter final Draw
Juventus (+174) vs. Barcelona (+181), Draw (+240)
Juventus had a relatively easy time advancing through the Champions League Round of 16, but things are about to get a lot harder for them. They host Barcelona for the first leg of the Champions League quarter final on April 11th.
The two teams met in the Champions League final back in 2015, where Barcelona easily won 3-1. The Barca squad hasn’t changed much since: A few minor players have come and gone, but the crux of the Barca attack — Messi, Neymar, and Suarez — remains as strong as ever.
Juventus, on the other hand, is arguably much weaker now compared to their 2015 side. They’ve since lost their star striker, Carlos Tevez; both of their star midfielders, Paul Pogba and Arturo Vidal; Juve Icon Andrea Pirlo left for the MLS; and the young Kingsley Coman was loaned out to Bayern Munich.
Sure, there’s been some attempt to rebuild the squad. Striker Gonzalo Higuaín was brought in to replace Tevez and has exceeded expectations, and the attacking duo of Mario Mandžukić and Paulo Dybala has been a great addition to the club. But they’re still not quite as strong as their 2015 side.
Hope is not all lost, though. The current Barcelona squad is virtually unbeatable on a good day, but this season they have had their fair share of bad days too. They were crushed 4-0 by PSG in the first leg of the Round of 16, and recently lost a league game to 16th-place Deportivo la Coruna.
Of course, we’ve all seen what they can do when they are at their best. The fact that they bounced back from a 4-0 crushing to beat PSG 6-1 shows exactly what they are capable of. Still, unlike other tops teams like Bayern Munich and Real Madrid (and Juventus to an extent), they are remarkably inconsistent.
On paper, the Juventus line-up barely compares to the Barca squad. But Juventus are not prone to wild fluctuations like the current Barca team. Juve are one of the toughest teams to beat at home, and with a little bit of luck, I think they can start the quarter finals with a win.
Pick: Juventus (+174)
Don Aguero is a man of many talents, writing about nearly anything you can put odds to. Don has been writing for SportsBettingDime since 2015, covering sports, entertainment and politics. You name it, he's covered it! He is also a steadfast West Ham fan, and has learned to embrace that suffering.
