The second leg of European Champions League quarterfinals will be success or heartbreak for some of the biggest teams and names in world football.
The BetDeluxe preview has found all the best bets ahead of these enormous fixture and it all begins with Real Madrid taking on Chelsea.
real madrid vs. chelsea
april 13th 5:00am
Real Madrid will bring in a 3-1 advantage to the second leg of its Champions League Quarter-Final tie against Chelsea.
Carlo Ancelotti guided his men to a big away victory at Stamford Bridge last week courtesy of another Champions League hat trick from Karim Benzema.
It marked the second hat trick in the Champions League knockout phase this season after he buried PSG in the Round of 16.
Defending champion Chelsea will be searching on a miracle to produce what would be one of the biggest comebacks in recent history.
The Blues returned to form with a 6-0 thumping of Southampton in domestic action last weekend.
That result will give them some sort of confidence heading to Spain, but Real Madrid hold all the aces with three away goals.
Hard to see Chelsea scoring that many against this sturdy Madrid back four.
Prediction: Real Madrid 1 Chelsea 1
Suggested Bets: Draw at $3.50
benfica vs. liverpool
april 14th 5:00am
With one foot already planted in the semi-finals of the Champions League, Liverpool hosts Benfica at Anfield for the second leg of its quarter-final tie on Wednesday night.
The first leg saw the Reds cruise to a 3-1 win over Benfica at the Estadio da Luz and are aiming to set up a clash with either Bayern Munich or Villarreal in the final four.
Klopp’s men come off a hotly-contested 2-2 draw against Manchester City in the Premier League over the weekend and not having to travel for this fixture is probably a God-send after that brutal encounter.
Benfica does pose a threat on the offensive end with Darwin Nunez.
He was the sole goal scorer for Benfica in the first leg and will be looking to expose any lapses in the Liverpool defence.
The query here will be whether or not Liverpool decide to go gung-ho and come out in attack mode.
Benfica knows it has no other option but to go all out here in order to score the goals required, but that will leave it vulnerable to the scary Liverpool counter.
The Reds can sit back with a handy buffer and hit Benfica out the back with Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Diogo Jota.
Prediction: Liverpool 2 Benfica 1
Suggested Bet:
M. Salah first goalscorer at $3.20
atletico madrid vs. manchester city
april 14th 5:00am
It is all to be played for when Manchester City travels to Spain for a huge second-leg quarter-final tie against Atletico Madrid
A Kevin De Bruyne strike put Pep Guardiola’s men in control at the Etihad, and a semi-final with either Real Madrid or Chelsea now awaits the victor of the two-legged tie.
Diego Simeone would have been pleased by what he saw from his troopers at the Etihad.
The tie now sits on a knife’s edge and Atletico has the advantage of home soil and its endearing fans.
Yannick Carrasco will be an important addition to Simeone’s squad after a suspension kept him out of the first leg.
For Manchester City, it will gain back Kyle Walker from suspension as well, but he might have some competition from Nathan Ake who held up well in the left back role.
Get the feeling Pep will go for the more attacking-minded fullback in Walker to press for an important away goal – something Atletico does not have.
The sit-back, hit on the counter approach adopted by Simeone at the Etihad is going to be picked apart here if City gets it passing game on point.
Atletico will need to call upon on a slightly more attacking style if it wishes to progress, but it could leave it slightly vulnerable at the back.
Prediction: Atletico Madrid 1 Manchester City 1
Suggested Bet: Draw at $3.50
villareal vs. bayern munich
april 13th 5:00am
Fresh off claiming one of its biggest ever European scalps, Villareal will attempt to cause a monumental upset when it heads to Allianz Arena for a clash against Bayern Munich.
Unai Emery’s squad takes a 1-0 advantage the second leg against Bayern and the winner will face either Liverpool or Benfica.
It seems as though Villareal has all but forgotten about domestic football for now.
Taking just one point from the last three fixtures in La Liga is doing Emery no favours domestically though, but he did make 11 changes to the squad which drew 1-1 with Bilbao over the weekend.
Munich, meanwhile, got away with a 1-0 win over Augsburg in domestic action over the weekend after Robert Lewandowski converted a late penalty.
It is not the most ideal form to bringing into a clash against such a spirited Villareal team, but doubting Munich at home in the Champions League is fraught with danger.
Lewandowski is one of world football’s greatest strikers at the minute and he will pose a huge threat in the final third.
However, Villareal has shown its capability of scoring away from home in this season’s Champions League.
Had it shot a bit more accurately last week, this tie could very well be over.
Bayern should have enough firepower to get the win, but Villareal can get the away goal to make it interesting.
Prediction: Bayern Munich 2 Villareal 1
Suggested Bet: R. Lewandowski first goalscorer at $2.50
