Four great matchups are waiting for us in the UEFA Champions League Quarter-Finals, as the first legs are set for April 3rd, 2018, when Sevilla welcomes Bayern Munich at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan and Juventus hosts the defending champions Real Madrid at Allianz Stadium, while on April 4th, 2018, Liverpool face Manchester City at Anfield and AS Roma travels to Camp Nou to visit Barcelona. With the updated winners odds, let’s see who can conquer Europa and win the Champions League trophy this season.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUARTER-FINALS
Juventus vs. Real Madrid
Sevilla vs. Bayern Munich
Barcelona vs. Roma
Liverpool vs. Manchester City
Four Big Contenders
After a draw for the Champions League Quarter-Finals, the bookmakers announced that Barcelona is the biggest favorite to win the Champions League, setting the market on Barca at +250, and it is obviously because they face AS Roma who’s arguably the weakest team left in the competition.
Barcelona has easily past Chelsea 4-1 on aggregate in the Round of 16, while Messi and co. are looking unstoppable in the Spanish La Liga, cruising to another domestic title, but the ultimate goal this season is to bring back the Champions League trophy to Camp Nou. If they avoid injuries, Ernesto Valverde’s boys should have an easy job against AS Roma, while the market on them to win the matchup is at -700.
Manchester City is the next on the list, as the price on them to win it outright is at +300, and the fact is that the Citizens are playing in a tremendous form throughout the season, but they have a serious task in the Quarter-Finals facing another Premier League side Liverpool.
The Citizens have beaten Basel 5-2 on aggregate in the previous round, winning 4-0 the first leg in Switzerland, so they could afford a 2-1 loss in the second leg on the home soil, while they are topping the English Premier League table with 16 points ahead of Manchester United in the second, and 18 points ahead of Liverpool in the third spot. Pep Guardiola has a plenty of talent among his squad and it seems like this could be their year.
The bookies set Bayern Munich as +400 favorites to win the crown, as the Bavarians will also play against the arguably weaker side in the Quarter-Finals, but it could be pretty dangerous if they underestimate Sevilla. Bayern Munich’s form is not on the highest level this season, despite they are leading the German Bundesliga with 17 points lead ahead of the closest rival, while they’ve hammered Besiktas 8-1 on aggregate in the Champions League Round of 16.
However, they had some drops in performance in the past, and in the previous round of the Bundesliga they were beaten 2-1 by RB Leipzig, so the experienced manager Jupp Heynckes probably has some worries ahead of the clash with Sevilla.
The fourth big contender is the defending champion Real Madrid who’s searching for the third consecutive Champions League trophy after Los Blancos have become the first in the history to win it two times in a row. The bookmakers set them as +450 favorites to win it outright, as Los Blancos meet tough Juventus side in the Quarter-Finals which will be a reprise of the last year’s Finals.
Real Madrid had some difficult times this season, and they’ve already given up the Spanish La Liga to their arch-rival Barcelona, so Zinedine Zidane’s boys have just one goal on their minds. This is a huge advantage for Los Blancos who can now concentrate only on a matchup against Juve, while Cristiano Ronaldo is slowly building up his form after some mediocre displays for the most of the season so far. Also, Real Madrid had the toughest rival in the previous round when they’ve beaten PSG 5-2 on aggregate, which was a massive boost for Cristiano Ronaldo and co.
ODDS TO WIN UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Barcelona +250
Manchester City +300
Bayern Munich +400
Real Madrid +450
Juventus +1000
Liverpool +1200
Sevilla +6600
AS Roma +6600
And Four Underdogs Looking For a Miracle
AS Roma will have the most difficult task in the Quarter-Finals, facing the mighty Barcelona with Lionel Messi onwards, so it seems like the bookies have overestimated the Italian side setting the price on them at +6600. The identical market is set on Sevilla, but the Great of Andalusia is a three-time consecutive Europa League winner (2014-2016).
In the previous round, Sevilla has completely outplayed Manchester United, beating the Red Devils 3-1 on aggregate despite being a huge out-of-towner in this matchup. On the other side, AS Roma has eliminated Shakhtar on away goals in the Round of 16, but they were pretty lucky to make it so.
Juventus at +1000 and Liverpool at +1200 could be potential surprises as both teams have a great chemistry, while their specialty is counter-attacks, so they certainly stand a chance in their matchups against Real Madrid and Manchester City. Juventus put on a brilliant performance in the second leg against Tottenham, beating the Spurs 2-1 at Wembley after they were down at the halftime, and showing another remarkable comeback.
They were easily beaten in the last year’s Finals against Real Madrid (4-1), so they have an extra reason to bring their best game in two matches with Los Blancos, while this is probably the last chance for the legendary goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon to grab the Champions League trophy.
On the other side, Liverpool has beaten Porto 5-0 on aggregate, scoring five goals in the first leg in Portugal, and proving they are masters of counter-attacking. The Reds have already beaten Manchester City this season (4-3 at Anfield), and if they get a positive result in the first leg on the home soil, they will be a dangerous opponent in the second leg at Etihad Stadium.
Likewise, the forward Mohamed Salah is playing in a fantastic form throughout the season, scoring 36 goals in 41 appearances in all competitions, and bagging six goals in eight Champions League matches, so he’ll be an enormous threat for the Citizens’ defense.
MY PICK: Real Madrid (+450)
