Wednesday, September 19, 2012

UCL Part 2

Man City was oh-so-close to win at the Bernabeu and instead were left empty-handed. The +1 goal Handicap looked good until Ronaldo's injury-time goal voided it. In reality, Real Madrid deserved to win the game by a mile. They were dangerous from start to finish and although they conceded 2 goals, they must be given credit for coming back each time. Much has been said about their lack of conviction and commitment in their previous matches but there was none of that yesterday. At their best, they are still the second-best team in the world behind Barcelona.

Today's matches look a little more predictable. Man Utd will either win or draw against Galatasaray; I cannot see them lose this game. The Turks are no push-overs, being unbeaten in their domestic league and have a very manager in Tehrim. However, I expect the host to unleash the big runs in an attempt to erase last year's debacle when they failed to go by the preliminary stage. Man Utd should win, or at worst come out with a draw, so they are a draw-no-bet selection.

Same prediction for Braga who will host Cluj. The Portuguese have a great home record and they will want to get maximum points from this encounter with the outsiders of the group.

Barcelona should win against Spartak Moscow and I like Lille as a draw-no-bet against Borisov. Celtic is in for a difficult night against Benfica at Hampden Park. I've said it before, the Scottish league is very poor and it got even poorer with the demotion of Rangers. Celtic will battle to get something out of the game, but it would not be surprising if Benfica won or at least comes away with a draw from their trip.


Win: Barcelona
Draw-no-bet: Man Utd, Braga, Lille, Benfica

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