We’re down to the final four teams in the Champions League, and this evening sees the first leg match between Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan and reigning champions Barcelona at the San Siro. Who will be victorious and take an advantage to the Nou Camp next week? BetRepublic.com previews this important and highly anticipated clash.
Inter Milan v Barcelona:
This match will be the fifth occasion that these two sides have met in the Champions League, with the score currently two wins for Barcelona and two draws. Both of these victories for Barcelona have come at the Nou Camp and the draws came at the San Siro. In the four matches Inter Milan have failed to score a single goal, while Barcelona have managed to find the net on five occasions. Will Inter be able to find a goal against the Spanish champions this time around?
Inter have scored five goals in their three games since they dumped CSKA Moscow out of this competition. They drew with Fiorentina in the league before going back three days later and dumping them out of the Coppa Italia. They also defeated Juventus last Friday night to give them two wins and a draw in their three games since progressing to the last four stage of the tournament.
Incidentally, two wins and a draw is exactly what Barcelona have achieved since knocking Arsenal out with a four goal salvo from Lionel Messi. They have also scored five goals in their three games, with two coming in the 2-0 win over Real Madrid and three coming against Deportivo La Coruna in the 3-0 victory. They drew away at Espanyol this weekend and kept their third straight clean sheet in a 0-0 draw.
How do the bookmakers see this match going? William Hill have Barcelona as the favourites at 13/10, with Inter available at 19/10 and the draw is 11/5. I honestly cannot see either of these two sides winning this game, as Inter Milan know how to shackle potent attacking players (see the two matches against Chelsea where Didier Drogba did not get a look in) and have already done so against Barcelona this season when they held them to a 0-0 draw on the opening night of the Champions League. I see this game ending as a draw with either 0-0 (available @ 17/2) or 1-1 (available @ 11/2) the most likely scorelines.
BetRepublic.com Recommends Soccer Betting Tips: Back draw @ 11/5 with there to be less than 2.5 goals @ 4/6 with William Hill.
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