With only a month to go before the curtain rises on the Champions League round of 16, the crosses brought by the Nyon draw are gaining in excitement day after day as the favorites, the eight teams that qualified as first of group, are in some cases showing certain weak points that make them more vulnerable.
The bookmakers have it clear. The eight who reached the round of 16 commanding their respective groups are favorites to stand in the quarterfinals. Real Madrid is the only Spanish team that achieved it and must be among the eight best (1.25 to 1), but Barça, Atlético and Sevilla, although they continue to start as victims in the face of their respective qualifiers, they are not so much anymore.
And is that in recent weeks the three Spanish representatives who reached the eighth as second group have grown a lot while their rivals have been less. In the case of Barça, when the draw paired them with PSG, a black cloud covered Barcelona. But today, Barça has linked a spectacular streak in the League led by a great Messi and the Parisian team lives in a sea of rumors after the change of Tuchel by Pochettino and the refusal to renew a Mbappé who is not going through his best moment. That is why the odds are being equalized, trading at 2.05 for Barca and 1.70 for the French champion.
The tie for Atlético and Chelsea repeats the same odds as that of Barça-PSG. The London team, outside the European positions in the Premier, is every day ‘less’ favorite (1.70) since the solid leader of the League (2.05) is showing very solid aside from the cup hit in the that Simeone lined up a team full of substitutes.
Sevilla are not favorites against Dortmund either (2.25 to 1 pay the houses for the Sevilla classification and 1.57 to 1 for the German team) but the great streak of Lopetegui, truncated in the Metropolitan Wanda against the leader (2 -0), where despite everything Sevilla left a good image, it makes the Andalusians hope.
Liverpool should pass Leipzig (1.28 to 1), but the ups and downs of the Reds and the good campaign of the Germans in the Bundesliga also open the door to an even cross.
And in the other three clashes, those of Juve against Porto (1.18 to 1 the Turin pass is listed), City against Mönchengladbach (1.083 to 1 that those of Guardiola pass) and Bayern against Lazio (1.071 to 1 the Bavarian classification) the ‘big three’ are not at their best either, so they can shed more excitement than is presumed.
If we talk only about the first leg matches, the sports predictions and betting house analysis web portal, in Sportytrader you can see how the four Spanish teams will start as favorites. Real Madrid is the one with the lowest odds (2.05 to 1), but the good moment of the other three Spaniards causes that Barça (2.20 to 1), Atlético (2.30 to 1) and Sevilla (2.50 to 1) have in their favor the bets to make the ‘field factor’ good at least in the first leg.
On Tuesday 16 Barcelona-PSG and Leipzig-Liverpool will open the round of 16, with Porto-Juventus and Sevilla-Dortmund playing 24 hours later. The following week it will be the turn of the Madrid teams. On the 23rd, Atlético will host Chelsea and Lazio will host Bayern, while on Wednesday, February 24, Real Madrid will visit Atalanta and Manchester City will visit Mönchengladbach.
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