The Champions League group stages get underway this week with some mouth-watering match-ups for fans to enjoy.
The undoubted highlight of Tuesday’s opening batch of games is the clash between Barcelona and Juventus at the Nou Camp. The two teams met in the quarter-finals last season, with the Serie A side recording a 3-0 aggregate success.
Barcelona have started the La Liga season in fine form, winning all three games without conceding a goal, while Juventus have also won all their three league outings this term.
Bookmakers have plenty of betting offers available on the Champions League, with both Barca and Juve towards the head of the outright market.
Juventus have edged the head-to-head record against Barcelona over the years, winning five and drawing three of their previous 12 meetings.
Barcelona’s home advantage sees them priced at around 8/11 to emerge victorious on Tuesday, with Juventus on offer at 7/2. With both sides likely to be keen to avoid starting their Champions League campaign with a defeat, the 3/1 on offer for a draw looks tempting.
Tuesday’s other highlight is another clash between Italy and Spain as AS Roma take on Atletico Madrid.
Roma’s Serie A game at Sampdoria was postponed over the weekend, while Atletico drew 0-0 at Valencia.
The two sides’ last meeting was in the quarter-finals of the Europa League back in 1999, with Atletico winning both legs 2-1. Diego Simeone’s team can be backed at 9/1 for a repeat scoreline on Tuesday.
Angel Correa has scored twice for Atletico this term and is on offer at 3/1 to get on the scoresheet, while former Manchester City defender Aleksandar Kolarov was on target against Atalanta on the opening day of the season and is priced at around 10/1 to score in Madrid.
Wednesday’s action sees Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur get their Champions League group campaigns underway against Sevilla and Borussia Dortmund respectively.
Liverpool head into the game against the Spanish side on the back of a disappointing 5-0 drubbing in the Premier League against City.
The two teams’ most recent meeting was in the 2016 final of the Europe League where Sevilla won 3-1, but the Reds are favourites at 8/11 to gain some semblance of revenge on Wednesday.
The visitors are priced at 4/1 to win at Anfield, but if you fancy them to keep it tight and snatch a 1-0 victory the 16/1 on offer could be the way to play.
Tottenham will welcome Dortmund to London hoping to overcome their Wembley hoodoo. Spurs struggled at the national stadium in last year’s group stages and their troubles have continued into this season in the Premier League.
While a defeat by Chelsea could be argued not to be unexpected, Spurs’ performance in drawing with Burnley was poor and they need to find a way to replicate their away form at Wembley.
Dortmund are currently top of the Bundesliga and having won both games against Spurs in the Europa League in 2016 the German side will fancy their chances of delivering another victory at odds of 2/1.