The Champions League Quarterfinals are set and two legs of action will decide advancement in the world’s most recognized club competition. April 11 will feature two high-profile encounters. Juventus and Barcelona open their tie at Juventus Stadium in Italy, and Borussia Dortmund will play host to Monaco at Signal Iduna Park in Germany.
Before I get to the obvious big match of the day, I will start at Westfalenstadion. I will always just naturally call Signal Iduna, but of course someone out there wants it seen either way.
Borrusia Dortmund opens the Champions League Quarterfinals at home, and Monaco comes-a-calling after an outrageous Round of 16 encounter. Monaco advanced to this stage after a 6 – 6 aggregate result with Manchester City. Radamel Falcao led Monaco into England for the first leg of their Round of 16 tie, and scored twice in a 5 – 3 loss.
The loss obviously was not the worst result, when you can claim three away goals in tow to the second leg. Monaco returned to France for the second leg and came out with their hair on fire! Two first-half goals and a dominant statistical performance had Man City on their heels entering the second half. Manchester City didn’t even get a ball in the box in the first half and had zero shots on, or off, target. One ugly corner kick that resulted in nothing was about the only offense City had to show for their first half efforts.
That obviously changed when City broke the 5 – 5 deadlock in the 71st minute. The away goal being worth its weight in gold, it was still going to be an uphill battle after Monaco grabbed three of their own in the front leg. All Monaco needed to do was to find another home goal and level the aggregate at 6, and that is exactly what they did. Just six minutes after Manchester City seemingly sucked the life out of Stade Louis II, defensive-minded midfielder Tiemoué Bakayoko became the hero. Bakayoko took a perfectly delivered a set piece cross just outside the six yard box, and slammed home the eventual decider.
Seriously, the crowd! Who doesn’t love when a building just explodes like that!? Oh uh, sorry City fans, okay well, maybe except you guys… 
Anyway, so the big thing I took from that tie with Man City and Monaco was obviously the goal scoring.
Hey, the rocket scientist who watched a 6 – 6 aggregate go down recognized goals as theme! I mean man, we do not usually associate that many goals being allowed by Danijel Subašić. He is usually a little more reliable than that.
Certainly, when you look at his results with the club while in Ligue 1 play, the tie with Man City doesn’t really reflect his usual reliability. Remember now, Monaco did take group E, and only allowed 7 goals in 6 contests. They were featured in Champions League group stage with Bayer Leverkusen, Tottenham and CSKA Moscow, so that is actually a rather decent showing.
We all know how Monaco got here and about the lift that Radamel Falcao has given them. Naturally, after not being much of an asset at Manchester United recently, he was likely happy to have that much of an influence on knocking Manchester City out of the competition.
This is a completely different situation, and I also look at the situation these two are dealing with in league play currently.
Monaco is sitting all alone on top of the France Ligue 1 table with 77 points after this weekend’s round of action. Monaco faces has a similar situation, and small advantage, with second place PSG, who each has a make up game left to play. That PSG match with Metz is re-set for April 18, but there is still no announcement as of yet when St. Ettiene and Monaco will make up their fixture. Monaco advancing to the Champions League Quarterfinals is making it more difficult to set that make up date, but it will obviously be announced soon.
Borussia Dortmund obviously has a zero chance to take the Bundesliga title this year, but they are indeed doing well.
Should they finish the campaign where they currently sit in the Bundesliga table, a Champions League appearance would be secured. It would be at the qualifying level before group stage, but no one would mind either way.
Barring a complete meltdown, Dortmund will likely be appearing in Champions League next year. It will only be an issue of where they come in. Hoffenheim and Dortmund are only one point apart for the third position in the Bundesliga table that holds direct entry to group stage.
Dortmund advanced to the quarters after a 4 -0 second leg led to a 4 -1 aggregate win over Benfica. The Portuguese side took a 1 – 0 home win to Germany, only to surrender four goals and return home after a 90 minute shallacking.
Despite my respect for ability of Subasic in net for Monaco, I see a German side and French side about to go off.
Granted the memory of the 6 – 6 madness lingers, but this is too important to let anything sit on the table.
Lines for the match read as follows:
B. Dortmund vs Monaco
3-Way 1×2 Lines:
Dortmund -140
Monaco +375
Draw +320
Handicap/Spread:
Dortmund -0.5 -140
Monaco +0.5 +120
Total 3.5:
Over +115
Under -135
Referee Daniele Orsato (ITA)
Assistant referees
Mauro Tonolini (ITA)
Lorenzo Manganelli (ITA)
Fourth official
Alessandro Costanzo (ITA)
Additional assistant referees
Paolo Valeri (ITA)
Massimiliano Irrati (ITA)
This is the first time that these two clubs will be meeting in major club competition.
The two clubs have almost an identical record against clubs from their respective countries.
Dortmund has a 4 – 3 – 1 record at home against French competition, and Monaco has the exact same home record against German competition. Dortmund has played 16 overall contests against France opponents, and holds a 6 – 5 – 5 record with 19 GF and 20 GA. Monaco has also played 16 contests against German foes and hold a 7 – 5 – 4 record with 23 GF and 17 GA.
Hey, we all need our stat fix right? Since we are on a need-to-know basis, you now know what you need to know!
How about that total? A straight 3.5 on a Champions League Quarterfinals total? Usually most of us old-schoolers know that the later the competition, the better the defense tends to be. That can obviously apply to certain situations and certain matchups, of course, too.
The fact that the line setters want to leave an extra $15 on the table is lovely to me. This is a 2 – 2 match at the very worst in my opinion, and that adds up to four goals, and a cashed ticket to me! That same hero Mr. Tiemoué Bakayoko is suspended for this match, and he is a defensive minded guy that will be off the pitch.
I lean towards the total, and I expect Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will have an influence on his return to France. I am also teasing the line down to the handicap of 3 and 3.5 goals, despite the $15 of juice involved. I like mini-safety nets when I can get a fair price, and -115 is not shabby to me.
Suggested Play:
Dortmund vs Monaco
Total Over 3 & 3.5 Handicap @ -115
For you prop lovers, I would also suggest the Monaco – Goal before 56′ @ -120, because they will score before the half in my opinion.
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So there is this other little match taking place today too. You might have heard of these two clubs before, but stop me if you have trouble recognizing them. Juventus is hosting Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League Quarterfinals tie. Oh baby!
Has too much time gone by for you to remember how Barcelona got here?
What did I think of it?
AND THEN THAT HAPPENED!! #ChampionsLeague!!
Wow!!
— It’s Ej (@EjTheRainmaker) March 8, 2017
Holy cow man, what the hell was that?! Being down 4 – 0 after the first leg of their tie with Paris Saint Germain was one thing, but then… THAT HAPPENED!
Luckily, I can say that I had the Over in that second leg, and here is your link to that article…
I still can’t believe that Barca scored three goals when the 88th minute started in that second leg encounter with PSG. Draw dropping stuff, and history making to boot.
Juventus are obviously the kings of Italy and it really isn’t even close recently. Juve will be chasing a sixth straight Scudetto title this year in Serie A. AS Roma and Napoli have the best chance to end the run, but it will still take a lot to stop it from happening. With a six-point and seven fixtures remaining in the Serie A campaign, Juventus is on the path they want to be on for sure.
I can only hypothesize that you recognize me for Italian football knowledge, since my love of the league goes back to 1983. I hope you enjoyed this past weekend’s Serie A post, because I posted winners upon winners for you to enjoy.
Now, to decipher this tough meeting.
I know Juve wants this, and I know Allegri wants it outrageously bad! To advance to the Champions League semifinals over Barcelona, would only justify the recognition of Italian football.
Let me get those lines and stats in your face, and move on from there.
Juventus vs Barcelona
3-Way 1×2 Lines:
Juve +165
Barca +185
Draw +240
Handicap/Spread:
Juve 0/Pk -115
Barca 0/Pk -105
Total 2.5:
Over -105
Under -115
Referee
Szymon Marciniak (POL)
Assistant referees
Tomasz Listkiewicz (POL)
Paweł Sokolnicki (POL)
Fourth official
Radosław Siejka (POL)
Additional assistant referees
Paweł Raczkowski (POL)
Tomasz Musiał (POL)
This is the eighth time these two clubs will be meeting in club competition, and who can forget the 2015 final. Barcelona beat Juventus in those finals by a 3 – 1 score, and plenty of faces still remain from both sides.
Fortress much? Juve Stadium is as hostile and unwelcoming as you could imagine. Juve has gotten a result in 21 straight European fixtures in Turin. (12W & 9D)
Here are the head-to-head stats, and then I will list the heads-up vs country stats.
In 7 meetings, Barcelona holds a 3W -2D – 2L advantage over Juventus, with 10 GF and 7 GA.
In 51 all-time meetings against Spanish opposition, Juve holds an 18W – 13D – 20L record, with 58 GF and 55 GA.
Barcelona has played 46 matches against Italian foes, and hold a 23W – 14D – 9L record, with 81 GF and 46 GA.
Obviously Neymar got suspended this past weekend in La Liga action, but that will not affect his Champions League camapign. Unless he receives further punishment for the red card he received, he should return for Barcelona’s match against Real Madrid on April 23, after sitting out the Real Sociedad match at Camp Nou next weekend.
Well, my Italian side comes out of me, and here we are needing to make a selection to offer. If you can get over my bias here, and understand that I expect Juve to come away with some type of result, then I have nothing else to say, because I know what this place is like. I have seen it since it opened, and I have seen nearly every Juve match played here in Turin for 30 something years.
Good luck beating them there! Barca or not!
Suggested Play:
Juventus vs Barcelona
Juventus 0/Pk DNB Handicap @ -115
Don’t forget that when it is time to get your action in, DSI has you totally covered with Champions League Quarterfinals offers. You can actually use the code Rainmaker to get a special bonus from yours truly, so think about that too. Just because I love all my people who take the time to check me out over here at Get More Sports.
In Bocca Al Lupo, and enjoy the action as the Champions League Quarterfinals play out. Stay tuned for the second legs of both of these ties next week, when they switch fields, and go after each other again.
