When the Champions League draw was made on Friday, at the house of European Football in Switzerland, one fixture stood out immediately:
Manchester City vs FC Bayern
Yes, the two favourites to win the title have been drawn together at the quarter-final stage, which opens up the competition a little. The Champions League 2023 betting odds still back Pep Guardiola’s Sky Blues to win the tournament, at a price of 3.20, but Julian Nagelsmann’s Bayern have been toppled from second place by Italy’s runaway league leaders Napoli who are in to odds of 4.15 while the Germans are 4-50.
The Sky Blues destroyed Red Bull Leipzig, 8-1 on aggregate, to reach the quarter-finals while FC Bayern eased through a Round of 16 clash with Paris Saint-Germain. It’s the first time the two teams have met since 2014 when Guardiola was the Bayern head coach and now he must find a way to mastermind a win against his old charges.
For the Sky Blues this is the Holy Grail, the competition they are desperate to win whereas the Bundesliga giants have won it six times, and that puts a little more pressure on the favourites. The winners of this tie will go on to meet Chelsea or Real Madrid in the semi-finals while Napoli or AC Milan will face Benfica or Inter Milan.
The final will be at the Ataruk Olympic Stadium in Turkey on 10th July and only one of these two giants can be there.
Players to watch:
Erling Braut Haaland: Manchester City Ten goals in the Champions League and 39 in total is an incredible return for the Norwegian goal machine who is the youngest player, at 22 years and 236 days, to reach 30 goals in Europe’s premier competition. He scored five as City blew the Red Bulls away and Haaland has moreChampions League 2023 highlights in his locker.
Jamal Musiala : FC Bayern The Bavarians’ winger burst onto the international stage at the World Cup with Germany and his pace, trickery and vision make him one of the best young players in the world.
AC Milan vs Napoli
18 points clear at the top of Serie A, Napoli have the Scudetto in sight and they have little to fear in this competition as they face Milan in the quarters. I Rossoneri are rank outsiders at a price of 22.00 to win the tournament while Gli Azzurri have moved from being dark horses to serious contenders.
Players to watch:
Victor Osimhen: Napoli With 43 goals in 73 games the Nigerian hitman has become one of the most feared strikers in the world. He scored twice in Napoli’s 3-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Round of 16 and is ready to take on Europe.
Fikayo Tomori : AC Milan Former Chelsea centre back Tomori has become one of the most accomplished centre backs in Serie A and he will have the task of stopping Osimhen…lucky him!
Real Madrid vs Chelsea
Graham Potters Blues have been matched with 14 times winners Real Madrid for the third Champions League in succession. The Premier League club beat Los Blancos on the way to their 2021 trophy win, but the Spaniards extracted their revenge last season.
At SBOTOP odds of 8.00 to win the tournament Carlo Ancelotti’s team has drifted to fourth favourites and an improving Chelsea can cause them problems.
Players to watch:
Vinicius Junior: Real Madrid In his eight games in Europe this season Vinicius has scored six goals and made three assists. At odds of 8.00, the young Brazilian is the closest to Haaland in the competition to be top scorer ns his pace will test the Blues’ defence.
Joao Felix: Chelsea Portuguese star Joao Felix is one of a number of big money signings to land at Stamford Bridge and he is starting to show his potential, linking up well with another new boy Enzo Fernandez.
Benfica vs Inter Milan
They are leading their domestic league by eight points, have lost just once this season and are on a ten match winning run, so nobody will be taking Benfica lightly. Opponents Inter are not in great form, with three wins from the last six and this is a finely balanced tie.
Players to watch:
Joao Maria: Benfica With six goals and two assists in the competition Maria is still in the hunt for the Golden Boot and he is the player I Nerazzurri will be most wary of. Benfica are the second highest scorers in the competition and their main man is a striker bang in form.
Denzel Dumfries: Inter Milan His displays for the Netherlands in Qatar revealed Dumfries to be a fine defender and a brilliant wing-back, with a final ball as good as any and a wicked shot in his armoury.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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