Juventus v Barcelona Betting Preview – UEFA Champions League 11th April 7.45pm
A big showdown in the quarter finals of this season’s UEFA Champions League and this won’t be an easy ride for the Catalans either. Juventus are a juggernaut on home soil as they have proven again in this season’s Serie A. Barcelona were severely ratted in their last away game of course in the competition, getting hammered 3-0 at PSG, before turning it around in dramatic fashion at the Nou Camp. Can they survive a trip to Turin?
Online betting site Bet365 offer great 0-0 bore draw insurance on matches which you can take advantage of. Place a pre-match correct score, scorecast or half time/full time wager on a match and if the game ends goalless then the bookmaker will refund lost stakes on the selected markets with a free bet. This applies to all matches in their sportsbook. Register an account with the award winning Bet365 and earn a 100% matched deposit bonus from them and enjoy top features like live sports streams, extensive live in play betting and partial cash out options on live bets.
Juventus v Barcelona Betting Tips
Two years ago these two clubs were famously battling it out in the final of the UEFA Champions League, with the Italians ending up on the losing side. This is the 17th appearance in the European Cup quarter-finals for Juventus and their record at this stage reads W11 D5 so that’s highly impressive. At home in Europe, the Bianconeri are unbeaten in 21 games now (W12 D9) and that is a massive run which goes back to a game against Bayern Munich in April 2013. This season in the UEFA Champions League, they have won two of their home games, drawing the other two. They did take a home win in the last round, beating Porto 1-0 in Turin. They have gone up against Spanish opponent this season already, facing Sevilla in the group stage, drawing 0-0 at home and winning 3-1 in Spain.
Juventus hold a W8 L6 record in two-legged European ties against Spanish clubs but at home, they boast a very strong W14 D8 L2 record against Spanish opponents. This is the third time in the last five seasons of the competition that Juventus have been to this stage and currently, they are on a four-match winning streak in this season’s tournament. They are also the only unbeaten side along with Real Madrid left in the competition. Juventus now haven’t conceded a Champions League goal in 351 minutes of play and under 2.5 goals at Bet365 is a price of 4/5 while if you wanted to be really bold and back Juventus to win to nil then that is a price of 10/3. Juventus have conceded just two goals in eight games in this season’s Champions League and neither were from open play. In the anytime goalscorer market at Bet365, Gonzalo Higuain is a 3/2 option for them with Mario Mandzukic at 9/4. The last eight goals that Juventus have scored in the competition have been from eight different players.
So no easy contest for Barcelona, who have won 10 of their last 13 games in the Champions League knocked stages. However, as we saw in the last round when they tanked in Paris, they have lost three of their last four away games in the knockout stage of the competition (W1) conceding nine goals. They have lost two of their last three away games in this season’s competition and have won only four of their last ten away games in the Champions League (D2 L4). So they have vulnerabilities and they lost on the weekend against Malaga in La Liga. Both teams to score in this one at Bet365 is a price of 3/4. This is a record tenth-quarter final appearance in a row for Barcelona and their record in two-legged ties against Italian clubs is W8 L3. Overall, Barcelona’s record away to Italian clubs is W6 D9 L5. Barcelona are the top scorers in this seasons’ Champions League now with 26 goals in 8 game and Lionel Messi has 11 of those, and he is up at a price of 5/4 in the Bet365 anytime goalscorer market.
Juventus v Barcelona Betting Odds
Juventus 13/8, Barcelona 15/8, Draw 12/5
Juventus v Barcelona Predictions
Juventus Home Win: The Italians are one of the best home sides in Europe and they are strong enough and defensively sound enough to bank themselves a first leg advantage in this tie. It may be a low scoring game, but look for the Italians to win it.
