[Football] UEFA Champions League Betting & Discussion Thread

[UNIVERSE]

Barcelona should be able to make it to the finals of the Champions League, but they need to be careful not to underestimate whoever wins the game between Bayern Munich and Inter Milan because oftentimes in this competition we've seen that there's also a measure of luck required to be able to win it, not just team performance alone.

Yes, Barcelona is on fire. They won every match, they show everyone that they are one of the favorite team to win UCL. Sure, Inter Milan or Bayern Munich can be a strong opponent. But I really assume that Barcelona must reach the final round in this UCL. They are one of the strong candidates for the finalist.

Maybe it would be Barcelona versus Arsenal in the final of this Champions League competition.

I think it will be PSG vs Barcelona in the final UCL. I don't underestimate Arsenal because they seem to defeat Real Madrid. But I see that PSG is really convincing, they really show that they have a big hope for winning UCL trophy this season. PSG even may be the winner in this UCL.

[sampoerna]

~ I am increasingly convinced that they will be able to become the winner of ULC this season, competing with PSG in the final with great conviction.

Easy there

Bayern lost the first leg against Inter but only by a single goal. They still have a chance at winning the second leg and, if they do, Barca will have a harder road to reach the Finals.

For the other side of the bracket, you're probably right that it will be PSG over Arsenal.

I was so annoyed that I typed ULC, sorry, it's UCL. 

I don't know, although on the other hand, I sometimes still want to believe in Real Madrid's winning spirit, especially in the UCL, because several times they were able to make an epic comeback in the second leg, but that really doesn't want to hope much anymore, because of the situation they have now. ah,, there is a battle of feelings between wanting to continue supporting Real Madrid to advance to the final with a more realistic feeling about their current performance. that's a battle in here.

and well, PSG this time is very insistent on wanting the UCL trophy, so is Barcelona, ​​this will be exciting, but indeed back again, all of that will not go smoothly because anything can happen in UCL matches, and sometimes all situations in the future can be very surprising.

[Harkorede]

Madrid loss is very wide 3: 0 is a very wide gap, and I don't think they can recover from that or even equalize. The problem with Madrid really is their defense they have a hard time defending opponents, and if they can work on their defense am sure they can do better next time.

3-0 is a huge margin to cover for any team even in their prime, and while some people are expecting some sort of miraculous comeback in the second leg, they’re not considering the fact that Arteta isn’t a kind of manager that also like to sit at back and defend, so whatever it is that Real Madrid could have planned, they’d still need to do some defending of their own too, it might even be easier to make a comeback against a team that’s expected to just sit back and defend, but how do you navigate that deficit against a team that’s most likely to attack you even more than you’re likely to do against them ?

[Rruchi man]

3-0 is a huge margin to cover for any team even in their prime, and while some people are expecting some sort of miraculous comeback in the second leg, they’re not considering the fact that Arteta isn’t a kind of manager that also like to sit at back and defend, so whatever it is that Real Madrid could have planned, they’d still need to do some defending of their own too, it might even be easier to make a comeback against a team that’s expected to just sit back and defend, but how do you navigate that deficit against a team that’s most likely to attack you even more than you’re likely to do against them ?

Our strategy should be to soak up any early pressure that they bring to ensure that we gain control of the game as we did in the first leg and not make silly mistakes. All players need to understand that the job is not yet done, and they also need to give their all in the 2nd leg, which will be more difficult than the first.

If we win them home and away, we will have increased confidence.

[$crypto$]

Not surprised with Borussia Dortmund's defeat in this match, because this season they have problems and their opponents are in good form.

Borussia Dortmund could not do anything in this match, they could only see Barcelona dominate and they created many goals. Their hopes are very slim in the second leg, I don't think they can turn things around.

Dortmund is already 4 goals behind. And with an aggregate of 4 goals I think it is really almost impossible to improve in the second leg. because that means Dortmund must score at least 5 goals and with the condition that they cannot concede. And that is truly a hope that is difficult to achieve. Moreover, Barcelona, ​​which is very productive in scoring goals, will probably also score again in the second leg. So I think it is almost certain that Barcelona will progress to the next stage.

Everyone must think it is impossible, because they have to score at least 4 goals and that too without conceding to take the match to extra time.

But the opponent they face is not an opponent who will stand still, they will definitely try to increase the aggregate, especially since we know Barcelona is also in good condition, so I think they will still score goals in the second leg.

[pawel7777]

PSG might me doing great this season in the league and Champions League, but, due to the legal feud they have with their former star and currently Real Madrid striker, Kylian Mbappe, they might be at risk of UCL ban next season, as the UK media, the Mirror reports:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/kylian-mbappe-psg-champions-league-35038845

Apparently Mbappe is still owed 55 million Euros and, according to Reuters, some of the PSG's bank accounts have been frozen:
https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/mbappes-legal-team-say-several-psg-accounts-frozen-salary-dispute-escalates-2025-04-10

I'm not sure what the current finances of the club look like, but I don't expect it will have a major impact on them, although if they are forced to pay everything at once, it could cause temporary liquidity problems.

[salad daging]

3-0 is a huge margin to cover for any team even in their prime, and while some people are expecting some sort of miraculous comeback in the second leg, they’re not considering the fact that Arteta isn’t a kind of manager that also like to sit at back and defend, so whatever it is that Real Madrid could have planned, they’d still need to do some defending of their own too, it might even be easier to make a comeback against a team that’s expected to just sit back and defend, but how do you navigate that deficit against a team that’s most likely to attack you even more than you’re likely to do against them ?

Our strategy should be to soak up any early pressure that they bring to ensure that we gain control of the game as we did in the first leg and not make silly mistakes. All players need to understand that the job is not yet done, and they also need to give their all in the 2nd leg, which will be more difficult than the first.

If we win them home and away, we will have increased confidence.

There's no way Real Madrid can do anything but keep attacking and not let their defense slip - because Arsenal can counter-attack under any circumstances.
We trust Ancelotti for the second leg even though it's a bit tough now, but at least if Real Madrid still wins under 3 goals they will still hurt.

[Uruhara]

There's no way Real Madrid can do anything but keep attacking and not let their defense slip - because Arsenal can counter-attack under any circumstances.
We trust Ancelotti for the second leg even though it's a bit tough now, but at least if Real Madrid still wins under 3 goals they will still hurt.

No one ever expected that Real Madrid would lose by a big score to Arsenal in that match. Even though there might be people who think Arsenal can win, no one expected that score. And I didn't even expect Real Madrid to be unable to reply to a goal in that match. Even though Real Madrid have great players in their squad, to be honest, Real Madrid's attack pattern is good, but the way this team makes solutions is quite monotonous, aka easy to read. So it was natural that Arsenal's goal could not be penetrated by Real Madrid in the end even though the defense had been passed.

In the second leg, all Real Madrid fans will certainly hope that Real Madrid will turn things around as usual. But I personally see an aggregate of 3 goals as quite difficult to catch. But just because it's difficult doesn't mean it's impossible. It's just that it's a pretty small chance.

[Igebotz]

Our strategy should be to soak up any early pressure that they bring to ensure that we gain control of the game as we did in the first leg and not make silly mistakes. All players need to understand that the job is not yet done, and they also need to give their all in the 2nd leg, which will be more difficult than the first.

If we win them home and away, we will have increased confidence.

The only mistake Arsenal and Artate would make in the second leg is to come with the mindset of playing safe and deep instead of trying to win the game; the best form of defence is attacking, and they must ensure that they do not concede first or concede far too early, giving Real Madrid confidence to come for the second.

Arsenal play much better than Madrid, and if they replicate their performance in the second leg, Madrid will have no hope of a comeback.  It going to be a goal galore game for sure.

[Harkorede]

3-0 is a huge margin to cover for any team even in their prime, and while some people are expecting some sort of miraculous comeback in the second leg, they’re not considering the fact that Arteta isn’t a kind of manager that also like to sit at back and defend, so whatever it is that Real Madrid could have planned, they’d still need to do some defending of their own too, it might even be easier to make a comeback against a team that’s expected to just sit back and defend, but how do you navigate that deficit against a team that’s most likely to attack you even more than you’re likely to do against them ?

Our strategy should be to soak up any early pressure that they bring to ensure that we gain control of the game as we did in the first leg and not make silly mistakes. All players need to understand that the job is not yet done, and they also need to give their all in the 2nd leg, which will be more difficult than the first.

If we win them home and away, we will have increased confidence.

There's no way Real Madrid can do anything but keep attacking and not let their defense slip - because Arsenal can counter-attack under any circumstances.
We trust Ancelotti for the second leg even though it's a bit tough now, but at least if Real Madrid still wins under 3 goals they will still hurt.

It's easier said than done, when a team is desperate and they attacking heavily they become highly susceptible to being caught off-guard on a counter attack, and for a team like Arsenal with players like Saka and Gabriel Martinelli on the flank, you really can't keep both of these players at bay when they've got a lot of space to exploit. It will be an interesting game all together, I'm very curious to see what approach/tactics Ancelotti is going to deploy for this match.

[Igebotz]

It's easier said than done, when a team is desperate and they attacking heavily they become highly susceptible to being caught off-guard on a counter attack, and for a team like Arsenal with players like Saka and Gabriel Martinelli on the flank, you really can't keep both of these players at bay when they've got a lot of space to exploit. It will be an interesting game all together, I'm very curious to see what approach/tactics Ancelotti is going to deploy for this match.

Maybe return Mbappe to the LW and play Vini as false 9 and attack heavily from the wings since Partey and Rice can't be penetrated in the middle. The Madrid midfield was completely locked out in the first leg.

[Gurujebs]

There's no way Real Madrid can do anything but keep attacking and not let their defense slip - because Arsenal can counter-attack under any circumstances.
We trust Ancelotti for the second leg even though it's a bit tough now, but at least if Real Madrid still wins under 3 goals they will still hurt.

Real Madrid way of winning games in their home is when their opponents teams focuses on defense more than they do in attack, that's when they unleash all their power and attack them until they break through them and if they are able to score the first goal, the rest of the goal will not be difficult got them to equalized and add extra goal or go for penalty.

It's been long since one has witness Arsenal presence on Real Madrid matches but they didn't do well in the second leg of their knockout with PSV, if they repeat what they did back then, I think Real Madrid can have a chance on them.

[Rruchi man]

I think Real Madrid can have a chance on them.

There is always a chance for Real Madrid, but do you think that there is a better chance for Real Madrid with midfielder Dani Ceballos's return? Camavinga, who played in the midfield for Real Madrid, will be absent in the second half after the red card. Ceballos may actually increase their chances.

[Asiska02]

3-0 is a huge margin to cover for any team even in their prime, and while some people are expecting some sort of miraculous comeback in the second leg, they’re not considering the fact that Arteta isn’t a kind of manager that also like to sit at back and defend, so whatever it is that Real Madrid could have planned, they’d still need to do some defending of their own too, it might even be easier to make a comeback against a team that’s expected to just sit back and defend, but how do you navigate that deficit against a team that’s most likely to attack you even more than you’re likely to do against them ?

This is a very important question and Real Madrid shouldn’t feel relaxed that when they put little pressure in the match, they’re going to prevail easily against Arsenal. They are not a very small team you can look down on and even when the draws was made, Arsenal was the kind of the silent killer team that was just doing their stuffs without any room for panic, so they really caught Real Madrid off guard and easily took advantage of the opportunities they got. Arsenal will attack as much as Real Madrid will also do, but the best team that will likely take the victory in the end is the one that will have the stronger defence in this match while also putting in the pressure for an attacking game.

[Uruhara]

The only mistake Arsenal and Artate would make in the second leg is to come with the mindset of playing safe and deep instead of trying to win the game; the best form of defence is attacking, and they must ensure that they do not concede first or concede far too early, giving Real Madrid confidence to come for the second.

Arsenal play much better than Madrid, and if they replicate their performance in the second leg, Madrid will have no hope of a comeback.  It going to be a goal galore game for sure.

You are right, if Arsenal repeats the same attacking strategy, namely the same as in the first leg, then there is no doubt that Arsenal can win, but if it turns out that Arsenal plays it safe by being more defensive then that will only give Real Madrid more attacking opportunities. And we know that when Real Madrid are given many opportunities to attack, turning things around is not impossible for this team. So Arteta has to really think about this.