Champions League: Barcelona in Need of Another Miracle; This Time Against Juventus.
Published April 19, 2017 by Sol FH
Barcelona down but not out and need a big win tonight against Juventus. Match begins at 19:45 GMT.
When Barcelona fell to PSG in the first leg of their Round of 16 tie 4-0, everyone thought that they would be out of the Champions League. The Blaugrana found a way to win the second leg at home 6-1 giving them a berth to the quarterfinals against Juventus. Last week didn't go the way that Barca initially hoped it would and they fell 3-0 to the Italian Champions and are in another sticky situation tonight, in need of a big 3-0 to send things to extra time, or a 4-0 to advance to the semifinals. The reigning Champions League Champions, Barcelona, are not used to this situation, but they have continued to prove that playing away and playing at home are two very different stories, but how many more of these must-win matches can they survive and is their time finally up?
The biggest difference with Barca's chances against Juventus in comparison to the match against PSG is that Juventus do not give up very many goals. They have arguably the best defense in the world right now and they have proven time and time again that they are deserving of a spot in the late stages of the Champions League. Juventus also have some of the best strikers in the world and have shown that they can score in clutch games. It will be a real problem for Barca to score tonight, let alone score 3-4 unanswered goals.
Keys to Victory
Even though the odds are stacked against Barcelona to advance to the semifinals, they could win the match. Luis Enrique will be without some of his best players though as Vidal, Rafinha, Arda Turan, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Jeremy Mathieu and Javier Mascherano are all but out for tonight's match. Vidal and Rafinha are out on long-term injuries, but the other five could be out for tonight and for El Clasico over the weekend. Barcelona must score early and score often, using Messi, Neymar and Suarez as much as possible.
Champions League Betting
The odds are very appealing for a Barcelona win tonight at 1.53 for the Blaugrana and 6.00 for Juventus. bet365 Sports is offering premium odds if Barcelona can advance at 6.00, whereas a Juventus semifinal berth is worth 1.12. Don't miss out on the long list of live in play betting markets available too.
