Champions League Betting Preview – Barcelona odds on to beat German challenge

VfB Stuttgart v Barcelona
The Champions League continues on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the first legs of the second batch of four games. Tuesday sees defending Champions Barcelona in action away at German side VfB Stuttgart. The Spanish Giants won their group ahead of Inter Milan, and will start as strong favourites against the Germans. Barcelona are still at the top of La Liga, but cannot seem to shake the attention of Real Madrid. The two are not in any danger of being caught by anyone else, and they have only lost four matches between then all season in the league. That’s how dominant they are. Over in Germany, VfB Stuttgart are languishing near the middle of the table, well off the pace of the top four. Former Arsenal keeper Jens Lehmann is still going strong in the Stuttgart net at 40, and believes that some typical German style football will give Barcelona a run for their money. One assumes that will be efficiency and some sharp tactics. Unlikely to be enough over the two legs to beat the formidable looking Barcelona, so they’ll need to keep an extremely tight ship at home in the first leg. Barca’s Daniel Alves and Xavi Hernandez have both travelled with the squad, despite both of them being serious doubts through injury.
Barcelona to win: 4/6 at SkyBet
Draw: 3/1 at Victor Chandler
VfB Stuttgart to win: 5/1 at Bet365

Olympiakos v Bordeaux
The kind of tie that will fade into the background alongside some of the other glamour ties that are happening in the knockout stages of the Champions League. But still, the two teams are there on merit, and French side Bordeaux could be the dark horse of the tournament this year. No, they are not going to draw short prices against their more illustrious opposition, but they have been handed a nice draw for the first stage of the knockouts, and for Laurent Blanc’s men, this is a great chance to progress further. They weren’t expected to make it out of Group A in qualifying, as they were grouped with Bayern Munich and Juventus, but it was the French side who were the stars of the show. The have looked invincible for long periods of the domestic season, but have had a little wobble. They have picked themselves up to win the last two games though, and are still clear at the top of the French League. Beside, the mighty Zinedane Zidane has tipped them for success, and that’s good enough for me at least. Olympaikos looked averagely uninspiring through the group stages, but finished in second place behind Arsenal in an easy group. They’ll defend well and put in a lot of passion, but the class Bordeaux have, as understated as it may be across Europe, should see the French win this one.
Bordeaux to win: 8/5 at Totesport
Draw: 9/4 at BetFred
Olympiakos to win: 2/1 at Victor Chandler

CSKA Moscow v Sevilla
CSKA Moscow are at somewhat of a disadvantage, as their season is over, and the new one doesn’t start until March. So they go into the fixture lacking match practice, as they haven’t played since December. The fact that this is a home fixture, may just bring things into balance a little bit, as it’s generally a tough place to go and pick up a win. Travelling from Spain to the cold of Russia can’t be a nice trip to endure midweek, but Sevilla should be up for it, because they must believe they have the fire power to upset a lot of teams in the Champions League this year. Sevilla are sitting fourth in La Liga, and while they are a way back from Barcelona and Real Madrid, they are having a fine season. They topped their Champions League group relatively easily, only suffering one shock defeat to Unirea Urziceni. They have up front, one of the great strikers in the world at the moment, Brazil’s Luis Fabiano, who is just a phenomenal goalscoring machine. Had a really strong first half of the season, but a bit of hit and miss form has crept into their game. His nine goals in fourteen appearances for Sevilla in La Liga keeps firing them into contention. The Spaniards are strong, and shouldn’t let anything slip in this tie.
Sevilla to win: 13/8 at Paddy Power
Draw: 23/10 at Totesport
CSKA Moscow: 15/8 at Bet365