Monaco v Juventus Betting Preview – UEFA Champions League 3rd May 7.45pm
This should be an interesting battle because you have the great, positive scoring power of Monaco taking on one of the best defences in Europe. Juventus are favourites to get to the final from this tie, but they are going to need to be at their defensive best out in the principality on Wednesday night for this first leg. The Old Lady shut out Barcelona over two legs in the last round, will Monaco be able to break them down?
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Monaco v Juventus Betting Tips
The attacking threat of Monaco or the defensive sternness of Juventus? Which do you side with? Monaco go as underdogs for the tie, but they have shown some great character so far, particularly in the knockout stages. They won on away goals after a 6-6 aggregate draw against Man City in the round of sixteen, before taking out Borussia Dortmund 6-3 on aggregate in the quarter-finals. Will they be able to get the tough back line of the Italians rattled on Wednesday night? Monaco have fallen twice to Juventus in the UEFA Champions League and one of those were a semi-final defeat in the 1997/98 season (Juventus winning 6-4 on aggregate). The most recent coming together between the two of them was in the 2014/15 quarter-finals, which Juventus won 1-0 on aggregate. Under 2.5 goals at Bet365 on the game is a price of 4/5, while over is an even money quote.
The French club have won 71% of their home games in the Champions League (22 out of 31) and of all teams to have hosted at least 30 games in the competition, only Real Madrid (76.5%), Barcelona (72.1%) & Bayern Munich (71.3%) have a better win ratio on home soil than the French club do. In each of their four knockout stage matches so far in this season’s Champions League, Monaco have netted three goals exactly. In the Bet365 correct score market, the shortest price option is the 1-1 draw at a price of 11/2. In the Bet365 anytime goalscorer market, for Monaco, there is Falcao at 3/2 and the highly impressive Kylian Mbappe at 2/1 (who is the joint top scorer in the knockout stages with Cristiano Ronaldo). As Monaco have never won away in the European Cup semi-finals (D1 L2) they need a positive here and they have won six of their seven home games in this season’s campaign, with a total of sixteen goals and they have scored in all but one of their 14 Champions League games this season. At home, Monaco holds a W3 D1 L2 record at home against Italian opponents and their record in two-legged ties against Serie A opposition is W1 L5.
Juventus showed immense defensive strengths in taking two clean sheets in their games against Barcelona in the last round. That was supremely impressive and they have not conceded in the knockout stages of this season’s competition. Juventus to win to nil at Bet365 in the first leg is a big 10/3 price. After failing to reach the last four of the Champions League from 2003/04 to 2013/14, Juventus have now made the semis for the second time in three seasons (after 2014/15) and they also not have themselves another Serie A title as well this season. The Old Lady has reached the final from five of their six previous Champions League semi-finals and beat Real Madrid 3-2 on aggregate in their most recent appearance at this stage, back in the 2014/15 season. Juventus, along with Real Madrid are the only unbeaten teams in this season’s competition (W7 D3) and Juve have not conceded now for 531 minutes of Champions League action.
So will the immense Juventus defence be able to keep the powerful scoring force of Monaco at arm’s length? Juventus have only shipped two goals in the competition this season and neither were from open play. In contrast, Monaco have conceded 16 goals, more than any of the other three remaining semi-finalists have. Both teams to score at Bet365 is a price of 7/10. Juve’s away record in European Cup semi-finals is W1 D4 L6 and if they draw this they will strong favourites back in Turin because they have won the home leg in all but two of their 11 European Cup semi-finals (W9 L2). Juventus have posted a good W4 D1 record in their five away games in the Champions League this campaign and in the anytime goalscorer market for them, Gonzalo Higuain is an 11/8 option with Paulo Dybala at 15/8. Dybala has scored four goals in five Champions League knockout games.
Monaco v Juventus Betting Odds
Juventus 13/10, Monaco 2/1, Draw 12/5
Monaco v Juventus Predictions
Juventus Away Win: Juve are running in some fantastic form this season in Europe and even though Monaco can pack a punch going forward, the Italians can shut them down and go out and sneak a narrow first-leg advantage on the road.
