Champions League preview: Bayern Munich vs Arsenal, Man City vs Real Madrid
Bayern Munich vs Arsenal
Is this the game where a shaken Arsenal offer Bayern a route out of their slump?
The Bundesliga side saw Bayer Leverkusen win the league in style this weekend; Thomas Tuchel leaves Bayern at the end of the season; and Harry Kane’s goal contribution, though impressive, ultimately counts for little right now.
The Bavarian club are having a bad time of things. Enter the Gunners to put the spring back in Bayern’s step?
The first leg of this quarter-final ended in a 2-2 draw, Leandro Trossard levelling the scores late in the game.
But since then the Gunners’ fortunes have taken a turn for the worse; they were beaten at home by Aston Villa on Sunday night, when a win might have given Arteta’s side the impetus to win the Premier League.
The side’s title hopes have taken a pounding. So will Arsenal shake off the weekend’s disappointment against Bayern, or does further misery await the north London side on Wednesday?
Who knows if the visitors have the maturity to put recent setbacks behind them and come good against Bayern. But the German side are unbeaten in their last 14 home games in the Champions League.
When in doubt, back the goals. Bayern have already played one seven goal thriller at home against an English side this season, the hosts winning 4-3 over Man United in the group stage.
This one could be similarly chaotic, so backing over 3.5 goals at 29/20 seems solid enough. Kane is 11/10 to score too, which let’s face it, he tends to do against Arsenal – last week’s for Bayern was his 15th career goal against the Gunners.
Man City vs Real Madrid
The first leg provided a six-goal thriller; who will emerge as victor in this decisive encounter at the Etihad?
City may have a sense of things falling their way after the weekend’s results; another treble is a real possibility, with City favourites for the Prem, the FA Cup, and yes, this competition too.
Real Madrid are not to be lightly dismissed, of course. But these sides did meet last season, with City winning 4-0 at home, after the first leg had ended in a draw.
Generally, City haven’t looked quite such a devastating force this season – though the fact Pep Guardiola’s side are favourites for all three competitions they’re still playing in suggests they’re still doing pretty well.
If Real can find an early goal, perhaps Carlo Ancelotti’s side can give the hosts a scare. But City have played Real three times at the Etihad in the last five years, and have found a way to win every meeting – on the night, at least (City’s 4-3 win in 2022 wasn’t enough to stop Real winning over the two legs).
City are heavy favourites to win on Wednesday; maybe Bernardo Silva can maintain his good form against Real. Silva has scored four goals in five meetings with the Spanish side, and is 3/1 to find the net on Wednesday.
City have scored exactly three goals in each of their CL games this season; if you expect that trend to continue, you could back City to score over 2.5 goals at 31/20.
You could also consider chancing the Correct Score market; a 3-1 win for City is a 10/1 shot, with five of the side’s nine CL matches this season have ended with that scoreline.
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