Tag: Porto

Can Porto Savage the “Old Lady?

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

Porto has long since been considered to be one of the sleeping giants of European football. They went through a golden period in 2003 and 2004. Under Jose Mourinho, they won the Europa League followed by the Champions League. In fact, that win by Porto in the 2004 Champions League season can be considered to be the last time that any club won the competition that wasn’t on the “rich list” of European clubs.

Porto has twice won Europe’s premier club competition having also won in 1987. As top European clubs became richer, the leading teams left clubs like Porto behind. Juventus are also on the list of teams that were considered to be great once upon a time. They have to go back to 1996 for their last Champions League win.

Can Juve Roll Back the Years?

Juventus are definitely a side to be respected. They reached the 2015 Champions League final and gave the mighty Barcelona a scare before eventually losing 3-1. They travel to Portugal for the first leg of their last 16 tie with Porto. Porto crushed Leicester City 5-0 in their final group game.

Once again this highlights just how strong Porto are when at home. Juventus are clearly the favourites to progress over two legs. They have the advantage of being able to play the second leg at home in Turin.

Many people feel this could be their year. Barcelona appears to be out of the competition after losing 4-0 to Paris St Germain. Some experts remain far from convinced about Bayern Munich even though they demolished Arsenal 5-1. Juventus are one of those teams that could lift the trophy should the big three of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich slip up.

Where is the Value in Portugal?

Juventus, Manchester City, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla are a list of four very dangerous dark horses that could go all the way. Despite this, Juventus seem poor value to travel to Porto with Bet365 offering just 6/5. Considering a draw will be a great result for Juventus or even a 2-1 defeat, this seems like poor value.

Benfica defeated Borussia Dortmund at home 1-0 in what appeared to be a similarly matched Champions League game to this one. Meanwhile, Porto can be backed at 13/5 with BetVictor and this seems like much better value. Porto has always been traditionally strong at home. It has always been their away form that has let them down.

Champions League Preview – April 21st

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

The Champions League semi-finalists are to be decided this week. On Tuesday night, Barcelona should ease past PSG with a comfortable 3-1 lead from the away leg but Bayern Munich face an uphill struggle to reach the last four.

The Germans went into the away leg missing several key players and were beaten 3-1. They welcome back Xabi Alonso, Thiago Alcântara, Jérôme Boateng, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Philipp Lahm for the return leg. They will still be without Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben and that could be vital. Despite their fine display in the first leg, Porto can still be backed at close to even money to go through.

I don’t there are any Premiership sides that would be odds-on to overturn such a deficit but Bayern are dominant in the Bundesliga. They are twelve points clear of Wolfsburg and were elevated to Champions League favourites after beating Shakhtar 7-0. Pep Guardiola’s side have a true Champions League pedigree but Porto may still be under-estimated. Julen Lopetegui’s side can be dangerous on the break with Jackson Martinez and Ricardo Quaresma and they could be the value bet.

Barcelona have a much easier task at home to PSG after running rings around them in Paris. In fact, Luis Suarez did precisely that to David Luiz on two occasions. The £50million former Chelsea centre-back must have thought his nightmare was over after that World Cup humiliation against Germany. With Thiago Silva out through injury, Luiz could be left exposed on Tuesday night and it would be no surprise to see Barcelona ease to a comfortable victory.

The French champions do have Zlatan Ibrahimovic back in the side but they were very fortunate to get past a lack-lustre Chelsea in the last round and they simply don’t look good enough. Laurent Blanc has to try to formulate a plan for this match but I cannot see them going out to attack. I believe that they will try to stay in the tie in the first half before searching for a lifeline goal after the break. Barring a sending-off for the home side, this looks like a formality for the Spaniards to book their place in the last four.

Porto to qualify @10-11 Coral

Ricardo Quaresma to score at any time @7-1 Betfair

Luis Suarez to score and Barcelona win @6-4 Paddy Power

Lionel Messi to score and Barcelona win @10-11 Ladbrokes

Barcelona to win by 2 goals @10-3 Bet365

Champions League – Quarter-final draw and odds update

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In our September Champions League preview we recommended Atletico Madrid (25-1) and PSG (16-1) as the value bets in this season’s competition. Both sides have made it safely through to the last eight but the draw has not been kind.

Atletico Madrid gave us a tremendous run for  our money last season in reaching the final before losing in extra-time to rivals Real. They face Ronaldo and co again in the two-legged quarter-final but will be more than hopeful of causing an upset this time.

Diego Simeone’s side have beaten the reigning champions twice in the league and knocked them out of the Copa del Rey this season. That surely entitles them to some respect here but the bookmakers have them at a top price 18-1 to lift the trophy. Anyone who saw Real Madrid scrape past Roberto di Matteo’s Schalke in that astonishing second leg match will regard the champions as suspect. Their price has eased to 9-2 third favourite in the wake of that display and a defeat against Barcelona at the weekend has dented their domestic league prospects.

Ronaldo has already dragged them through a few tricky matches this season and he will be the main threat to Atletico but it should be a fascinating tie.

PSG were extremely fortunate to get past Chelsea who were guilty of sitting back against ten men in the hope of seeing out time. I am always happy to praise Jose Mourinho for his tactical genius but he failed to galvanise his troops that day. Credit to PSG for hanging on long enough to get a result but I can see why they are a longer price now than they were back in September.

As well as their average form, there is the little matter of Barcelona to overcome in the last eight. The Spaniards saw off Man City and would have run up a cricket score but for Joe Hart’s brilliance between the posts.

Bayern Munich have emerged as the new favourites and they face Porto while Juventus face Arsenal’s conqueror’s, Monaco. The Gunners came close to turning around a 3-1 deficit and Monaco were on the ropes for almost 90 minutes. Few will be rushing out to take the Coral price of 80-1. Juventus are in to 8-1 after thrashing Borussia Dortmund and could be this year’s surprise package.

Best odds

Bayern Munich 13-8 Ladbrokes

Barcelona 28-11 Unibet

Real Madrid 9-2 Ladbrokes

Juventus 8-1 Ladbrokes

Atletico Madrid 18-1 Boylesports

PSG 20-1 Paddy Power

Porto 80-1 Coral

Monaco 80-1 Coral

1/3 odds, 1,2

Quarter-finals to be played April 14th, 15th, 21st, 22nd

Champions League – Porto and Real to progress

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

The Champions League returns this week with the first four quarter-finalists to be decided. The match of the week looks to be the clash at Stamford Bridge between Chelsea and PSG on Wednesday night with the tie delicately poised at 1-1. We will be previewing that game in detail tomorrow.

Tuesday night sees Porto welcome Basel to Portugal with the tie also level at 1-1 after the first leg. The home side are unbeaten in the competition this season and finished top of Group H.  They have not lost any of their last eight home games in Europe and are bidding to reach the last eight for the first time since 2008/09.

They have won six of their last seven matches in all competitions and have not conceded a goal in five league matches. Basel scraped through to the last sixteen by knocking out Liverpool on matchday six but finished 11 points behind Real Madrid in their group. They have only been to the knockout stages once before where they were thrashed 8-0 on aggregate by Bayern Munich. It’s difficult to see anything other than a home win for Porto, probably without reply.

The other tie sees Real Madrid defending a 2-0 lead at home to Schalke. They should have few problems reaching the last eight for the fifth consecutive season as they try to become the first side to defend the trophy in the modern era.

Real put Schalke to the sword at the same stage last season, winning 9-2 on aggregate with a 6-1 victory at the Bernabeau. The German side have improved under new coach Roberto di Matteo but face an impossible task trying to rescue the tie. Ronaldo scored four against Schalke last year and scored in the first leg so it is no surprise to see him short in the goal scorer markets here.

Schalke edged through courtesy of a goal from substitute Max Meyer against Maribor in their final group match. They recorded their first victory in five league games last weekend but this may be an exercise in damage limitation for the visitors. Carlo Ancelotti’s men can afford to be patient and pick them off in the second period.

Tips

Ronaldo to score and Real Madrid win @8-13 Paddy Power

Real v Schalke: Over 2.5 goals scored @4-9 Betfair

Porto to beat Basel to nil @6-5 William Hill

Real Madrid and Porto for Champions League double

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

There are two further Champions League matches on Wednesday night with Real Madrid away to Schalke and Basel at home to Bayern Munich. If you were expecting to see the Premiership teams in action after Chelsea on Tuesday, the matches are being dragged out over the next fortnight. Arsenal and Man City return to the fray next week.

Real Madrid thrashed Schalke 6-1 in the corresponding fixture last season with Ronaldo, Bale and Benzima helping themselves to two goals apiece. A 3-1 defeat in the return leg consigned Schalke to a 9-2 aggregate thrashing. Former Champions League winning manager Roberto Di Matteo is now at the helm for Schalke and they are expected to put up stronger resistance this time.

Di Matteo has brought in Matija Nastasić on loan from Manchester City and his side are now back in the top four in Germany. Summer signing Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting has already scored nine goals in the Bundesliga but they were taken apart by Chelsea in the group stages and it is difficult to see them holding out for 90 minutes.

Swiss champions Basel meet Porto in the in Wednesday’s other match. Basel reached the last sixteen by holding out for a 1-1 draw at Liverpool in December, finishing second to Real Madrid in Group B. Basel beat Liverpool 1-0 at St. Jakob-Park and restricted Real to a single goal. That was only their second home defeat in their last eleven European home games.

Porto have not lost to a team from Switzerland since the Grasshopper Club in the 1980/81 UEFA Cup. They are unbeaten in the Champions League so far this season and finished five points clear at the top of Group H. They were held to a 2-2 draw at Shakhtar on matchday two but won their other away games at Athletic Club and FC Bate Borisov.

Porto won the competition in 2004 but have not gone beyond the semi-finals since. This is the seventh time that they have reached the last 16 since their victory and their league form suggests that they can go further this year. Porto have won ten of their last 13 matches with Colombian striker Jackson Martínez scoring 12 goals in his last 13 games. Both Porto and Real Madrid are capable of winning comfortably and the win double pays around 5-2.

Wednesday Double

Porto to beat Basel @29-20 BetVictor

Real Madrid to beat Schalke @4-9 BetVictor