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THE CHAAAAAAAAMPIOOOOONNNSSSS
It's one of the best stages of the football season, the Champions League round of 16. Eight matches spread across two weeks. Beautiful.
This week, we've been tasked with picking a four-fold group bet on the four fixtures taking place in Europe's most prestigious club competition. Those ties include: Atlético Madrid vs Juventus; Liverpool vs Bayern Munich; Barcelona vs Lyon; and Schalke vs Manchester City. They all have the potential to be thoroughly entertaining, with Liverpool's clash with Bayern the biggest thigh-rubber. Here are our selections for this week's Group Bet.
Dark Horse - Wayne: Atlético Madrid to beat Juventus
Atlético Madrid might have lost at home to their city rivals last weekend, but their record at the Wanda Metropolitano this season is still immensely impressive; the recent 3-1 loss to Real Madrid was their first home defeat of the season. Diego Simeone's side come up against high-flying Juventus, who will be looking to dominate the ball and take the game to Atléti, which should suit the home side perfectly.
Glory Hunter - Si: Over 2.5 goals in Liverpool vs Bayern Munich
It's tough to predict which way this tie will go after two legs, but one thing is for certain: there will be goals. Liverpool will be boosted by the return of Trent Alexander-Arnold, which should help in both defence and attack, but Bayern will be looking to target Joel Matip - stepping in for the injured Joe Gomez and Dejan Lovren. With Robert Lewandowski up front, no defence is safe, even if it does include Virgil Van Dijk.
Liverpool's pace in attack should cause Mats Hummels all sorts of problems too. Three goals doesn't sound like too much, does it?
Captain Obvious - Reuben: Barcelona to beat Olympique Lyonnais
Lyon currently sit in third place in the Ligue 1 table, but are a massive 13 points behind leaders and champions elect PSG. While their recent form is decent, their overall form this season has been extremely patchy, and Barcelona will be very confident of putting this tie to bed in the first leg.
Ernesto Valverde's side have not been at their best this season but still maintain a six-point lead at the top of the LaLiga table, and crucially, they have Lionel Messi, who can end any team's chances in one fell swoop.
Barcelona are simply on a different level to Lyon, and I think they'll put them away with ease.
The Stat Man - Matt: Over 2.5 goals in Schalke 04 vs Manchester City
Schalke 04 have not kept a clean sheet since their 1-0 home win against Lokomotiv Moscow on December 11, and I don't see how their home tie against Manchester City will remedy that situation.
Manchester City have not been held goalless in 16 games, dating back to their 2-0 defeat to Chelsea on December 8, so the form book suggests there will be goals in this game, and they're likely to come from the visitors.
Interestingly, only one side (Borussia Dortmund on two) conceded fewer goals than Schalke's four in the group stage, but given Manchester City's scoring escapades this season (68 in the league, at the time of writing, and 16 in the Champions League), I reckon it's highly unlikely there won't be plenty of goals in this one.
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