With the Champions League tables taking shape, we are left with just two more Match-days to go. Juventus will welcome Barcelona to the Turin with the hopes of bringing something positive to Italian football after the recent heartache of missing out on the World Cup, while Sporting visits Greece to play against Olympiakos, against whom they produced an excellent contest on the first day.
JUVENTUS vs. BARCELONA
Three-way: 1: Juventus +208; X: +250 Draw; 2: Barcelona +162 at BetDSI Sportsbook
Spread 0: Juventus +119; Barcelona -119
Total +2.5: Over +100; Under -103
JUVENTUS
It is definitely a sad time for Italian football as a whole, as the team’s failure to qualify for the world cup has been rightly termed as disappointing. And of all teams, it looks to have Juventus the most, as it is acting as a mental burden on three of the club’s most influential players in Buffon, Chiellini, and Barzagli, who have retired from international football after the humiliation. Things haven’t helped the Bianconeri that Napoli are back to their very best and are making the first position theirs at the moment, with Inter chasing close behind. Allegri’s men will be looking to up their game in the coming months to try and push Napoli off the top spot, and get hold of the position that has become so habitual for the Juventus teams of late.
After a poor showing against FC Barcelona in the first UEFA Champions League group game, they have picked themselves up and showed some good performances. Their form over these four group stage games has been 2-1-1. In these matches, the Italian champions have scored 5 goals, while conceding 5. Although not poor, one can expect better from a team that has often been considered one of Europe’s best in defensive abilities at least.
Their last home game was a closely fought 2:1 victory against Benevento in Serie A, following which, they lost to Sassuolo in an enthralling 3:2 contest, which was opened up in the second half, leaving Juventus in the third position in the league, 4 points behind Napoli, who are showing no signs of slowing down in the race for the Scuddeto.
Their Argentine strike partnership has been firing up very well this season, as Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain have struck 14 and 10 goals respectively in 18 appearances, along with combined five assists. Playmaker Miralem Pjanic has been doing his bit to fill the hole left by the legendary Andrea Pirlo and has contributed with 3 goals and 7 assists in 14 appearances. From the wings, Colombian Juan Cuadrado has created five goals and scored another 3.
In the last match, Gianluigi Buffon started on the bench as it was because he didn’t feel mentally ready to start the game after the Heartache of being dumped out of the World Cup. However, being the experienced player he is, he is more than able to lead his team out to this champions league match this Wednesday and support them in the search for another three points. Fortunately, the old lady doesn’t have any other injury concerns as of now.
BARCELONA
After a seemingly poor transfer market and a managerial appointment that didn’t please everyone, it is safe to say that things have turned out very good for Barcelona so far. Top of the league, unbeaten since the start of the league campaign, just 4 points dropped in all competitions. So much for a club that was in a supposed state of crisis due to a ‘poor transfer market performance’, something which is still making summer signing Paulinho(who has more goals than the famed BBC), chuckle. Valverde has made sure that even if Barcelona isn’t playing well, they are more than able to grind out three points. This is the quality that any team with a winning mentality is supposed to have, and this is the quality that often leads to silverware come the end of the season.
They have been very good in the UEFA Champions League group stages so far, with three wins and one scoreless draw. In these four matches, they have scored 7 goals, while conceding just twice, keeping three clean sheets in the process. These numbers are surely a treat to the eyes of Barcelona fans as they are happily looking forward to knockout stages now.
Their last match was a very comfortable 0:3 away win against Leganes in the league, where Luis Suarez ended his goalscoring drought with a predator’s finish while Paulinho continued to prove his critics wrong with another strong performance, which was topped off with a goal. Before this match, they were up against Sevilla at the Camp Nou, and ran out 2:1 victors on that day too, even though they didn’t really hit top gear.
As one would expect, it is the phenomenal Argentine Lionel Messi that has been leading the attack with menace for the Catalans. The little magician has 16 goals in 18 appearances in all competitions and has also provided 5 assists. Along with him, left-back Jordi Alba also has created 5 goals, while forward Luis Suarez has scored 5 goals and provided 3 assists. The fact that 14 different players have scored goals for the team this season shows that Barcelona is more like last year’s Real Madrid; getting goals from all positions.
Midfielders Rafinha and Sergi Roberto are both out until December with a Meniscus and Hamstring injury respectively, something which will also keep Andre Gomes out until at least another week. Summer signing Ousmane Dembele and defender Mascherano are both out with muscular injuries and won’t be back before at least a month.
JUVENTUS vs. BARCELONA- Match Prediction:
In what will be the repeat of the 2015 UEFA Champions League final, we will be witnessing a potentially enthralling contest. Two of Europe’s best teams, absolutely fantastic on their day, will be going head to head. However, it must be noted that Barcelona is in a much better form and is high on confidence, while Juventus has been having a topsy-turvy campaign of sorts. However, after the latest defeat, they are like a wounded tiger, and will surely be looking to avenge their defeat in the opening round against the Catalans. So, I believe this will be a close game. However, my prediction will be an away win for Barcelona, with the scorelines being very close come the final whistle.
MY PICK: Barcelona to win (+162)
SPORTING vs. OLYMPIAKOS
Three-way: 1: Sporting -167; X: +351 Draw; 2: Olympiakos +650 at BetDSI Sportsbook
Spread -1: Sporting -108; Olympiakos +102
Total +2.5: Over -108; Under +104
SPORTING
Eleven matches into the season and Sporting are well placed at the second position, just 4 points off the top spot, which is occupied by FC Porto. They have played pretty well so far, considering the fact that they are yet to have a defeat in the Portuguese top division this season. However, they have underperformed a bit in the Champions League, which isn’t much of a surprise considering that they are up against Juventus and Barcelona in their group. However, with no international breaks between for the next few months, the manager will be hoping that his team can conjure a winning run to topple Porto off the top spot in the league at the very least.
In the Champions League, they started off with a frantic encounter against their would-be opponents Olympiakos, where they were 2:3 victors in Greece. After that enthralling contest, they had three matches against Barcelona, and against Juventus, twice. They lost two, and drew one, scoring twice, and conceding four times. They will be hoping to put in a strong performance this time around to gather some hope for qualifying to the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Their last match was a home clash against Famalicao. During that match, Sporting played with relative ease as the ended the match as 2:0 winners. Before this, they welcomed Braga and played one of the most exciting matches in the league so far as they drew 2:2, sharing the spoils with the visitor. Sporting will be hoping that they can get a second win on the trot and grab home the three points in the Champions League.
Dutch forward Bas Dost has been leading the line with aplomb for Sporting. The tall striker has scored 11 goals and 2 assists in 18 appearances in all competitions. Following him is midfielder Bruno Fernandez, who has shown his all-around excellence with 7 goals and 6 assists in the same number of appearances, showcasing that he has settled into his new team very well.
There are a couple of injury concerns for the manager to deal with before this midweek clash. Winger Marcos Acuna is out with a muscle injury, while Jonathon Silva suffered a knee injury this Friday, meaning that both the players will be out for the match in all likelihood. Centre back Sebastian Coates will be returning from a yellow card suspension.
OLYMPIAKOS
Just like Sporting, the current Greek Champions are sitting at 2nd position in the league after 11 matches, although they are just one point off the current leaders, and at the most, can be only 3 points adrift of the leaders after all the teams have played 11 matches. However, they are lucky that Athens, who are at the top, haven’t been ruthless in their own matches, and as a result, have failed to create a big lead at the top. The fans of Olympiakos will be hoping that the team can start getting more compact at the back, something that has been a major concern for the fans as they have seen their team concede avoidable goals.
They have failed to win any of their four group stage games in the Champions League so far, although it is hardly anything too disappointing, as they are up against the likes of Juventus and Barcelona. They have lost three matches, and drew one, which was an impressive 0:0 draw at home against the rampant Barcelona side. During this period, they have conceded 8 goals, while scoring just thrice. With two games remaining in the Champions League group stage, the players will try to give their best, with the hopes of securing at least Europa League knock out stage qualification.
After their draw against Barcelona, they seem to be getting in a decent run of form, as they put in two very accomplished performances in both the league games they played after that UCL clash. In the first of those, they thumped Platanias 5:1 at home, after which they welcomed Levadiakos, and played a very good game, where they stood out defensively to prevent the visitors from getting any point from the match and hence, finished the match as 2:1 winners.
In the current squad, a lot of different players have contributed with goals and assists, but no player has taken the lead and scored a lot of goals. Playmaker Fortunis has scored five goals and assisted four, while attackers Pardo, Emenike, and Ansarifard have all scored four goals each with a combined four assists. Although it is a positive sign that many members of the squad have been chipping in with goals and assists, the strikers must take the onus of scoring with themselves and lead the line to make sure the team gets good results more often.
There are no injury concerns for the manager to deal with, which will be a boost for the fans going into this clash.
SPORTING vs. OLYMPIAKOS – Match Prediction:
This match has all the ingredients to be a cracking tie, just like the reverse fixture when Sporting just about managed to cling on to a win. This time, however, Olympiakos would be looking for a win as a revenge and considering the fact that they or on a good run of form, it shouldn’t be very difficult. At the same time, Sporting has some real game changers among their squad, so they will be the ones to look out for. The fans saw five goals in the first encounter of these two teams and I think that we are going to see plenty of goals on both ends again. Therefore, go for the over and for both teams to score.
MY PICK: Over 2.5 goals (-108)
Additional Pick: Both teams to score YES (+104)
