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ODDSbible Champions League: Juventus v FC Barcelona Betting Preview

ODDSbible Champions League: Juventus v FC Barcelona Betting Preview

Can Juventus take an advantage into the second leg?

Joshua Jones

Joshua Jones

In a repeat of the 2015 Champions League final, Barcelona travel to Turin to face Juventus for the first leg of their Champions League Quarter-final tie.

The last time the sides met, in Berlin, Barcelona ran out comfortable 3-1 winners to seal their fifth Champions League victory and fourth European success in 10 years. A lot has changed since then.

The triumph came in Luis Enrique's inaugural season as Blaugrana manager and the Spanish Giants were mesmerising on their way to a second treble. This year, they find themselves second to Real Madrid in La Liga and had to pull off a miracle in the last round after losing 4-0 to PSG in Paris.

Enrique has confirmed that he will leave the Nou Camp at the end of the season and, off of the back of a 2-0 loss in Malaga on Saturday night, a visit to Massimiliano Allegri's Juventus side could make it a sour end for the Spaniard.

The Old Lady are in unbelievable form at the Juventus Stadium, winning 41 of 47 unbeaten home games since August 2015. They also haven't lost a home Champions League game since April 2013, whilst Bayern Munich are the only away side to earn a Champions League victory in Turin since 2004 - a run spanning 41 games.

It's safe to say an away victory for a misfiring Barcelona side would be a tough ask.

Were it not for their seven minutes of magic against PSG a month ago, the Catalan side's season would look a whole lot different. The Blaugrana would be out of the Champions League and trail Zinedine Zidane's Real Madrid by three points, having played an extra game.

They've lost twice away to mediocre sides in the league since then, repeatedly faltering in their pursuit of at the top of La Liga. Sergi Roberto's 95th minute goal gave them hope for another treble, but it was quickly quashed by a loss at Deportivo La Coruna just four days later. This was compounded further by defeat to Malaga at the weekend, especially as Madrid had dropped points to Atletico just a few hours earlier.

Juventus, on the other hand, are absolutely flying and show no signs of stopping. Their 2-0 victory over Chievo at the weekend was their 32nd consecutive home league win, maintaining their six-point advantage at the top of Serie A.

With the Bianconeri flying and their visitors stuttering, I think the bookies are being rather generous with some of their odds and I won't be passing up the chance to take the 13/8 on Juventus beating Barcelona.

Luis Enrique was able to rest both Gerard Pique and Andres Iniesta at the weekend (whilst Ivan Rakitic was suspended) but with Sergio Busquets suspended for this tie, I suspect Juve will be able to expose Barca's already fragile defence with relative ease. Rafinha and Arda Turan are also set to miss out, meaning Barca's midfield options are seriously limited.

On the other hand, Allegri was able to rest Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini and former-Barcelona man Dani Alves at the weekend, leaving them fresh at the back - as well as the players that started never really having to exert themselves either.

Barcelona have already lost two of their four away games so far in this Champions League campaign and it isn't unreasonable to expect Juventus to have enough to beat them too. The Old Lady, traditionally, also have a fairly impressive record against Spanish sides. In continental competition, they've only ever lost two of their 29 home games to Liga teams, progressing in five of their six two-legged ties.

Looking at slightly higher odds, I like Draw HT/Juventus FT at 11/2 and Juvenus to Win by Exactly 1 Goal at 3/1. Though I expect Juventus to win, it might not be plain sailing and a cagey first half could be on the cards.

Speaking of cards, I think Barcelona 30+ Booking Points at evens is well worth backing. They've totted up at least three cards in all four of their away games so far in this campaign and I wouldn't be surprised to see them pick up a few more in a what looks a tough game.

With only Marco Verratti (five) picking up more bookings in the Champions League so far, Neymar to Be Carded at 7/4 is also a great bet. The Brazilian has picked up three of his four cards in their games away from home so far and this looks an interesting bet with a night against countryman and former-teammate Dani Alves in store.

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