Wednesday 12 August

21:00 – Atalanta v PSG

Atalanta are many punters dark horses to win this seasons Champions League this season due to truncated format with one-off matches.. Gian Piero Gasperini’s side remarkably scored 98 goals in Serie A in 2019/20, at least 17 more than any other side in the division.

Atalanta have won four straight UCL matches, three of which seeing a two or more goal margin. Across that trio of emphatic wins, they averaged exactly two goals after HT. With Serie A continuing behind closed doors and the Ligue 1 season ending prematurely, Atalanta’s conditioning and match fitness should hand them an advantage. However, Atalanta didn’t finish the Serie A campaign in great form, scoring more than once in just one of their last four games.

After a run of three straight seasons being eliminated at the round of 16, Paris Saint-Germain are into the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2016. With Marco Verratti set to miss out and Angel Di Maria suspended, coupled with the fact Kylian Mbappe will not be fully fit (if he plays). 

PSG have won six of their last eight UCL matches, with four of those victories seeing a two or more goal margin. Eight of the last 13 goals scored (either way) in PSG’s UCL games have arrived after the 60 minutes. In turn, three of PSG’s last four UCL games have seen that period alone produce over 1.5 total goals.

A tough one to call but while it may be hard to pick a winner considering the different recent schedules, a safe bet would probably be goals being scored.

Best Bet: BTTS and over 2.5 goals at 1.74

Thursday 13 August

21:00 – RB Leipzig v Atletico Madrid

A 4-0 aggregate win over Tottenham Hotspur saw RB Leipzig progress to quarter-final stage and extended their unbeaten run in UCLfootball to six matches. Only one of those matches was 0-0 at HT, Leipzig scored in both halves in just two of those six matches. The German unit have lost just one of their last 16 matches in all competitions but conditioning will be a factor considering the Bundesliga ended before most other leagues.

Atlético Madrid’s last seven league wins all saw them score first as well as their last eight UCL win. Diego Simeone’s side have lost five of the previous six UCL matches when they conceded first. They’ve done well after HT in recently, three of their last four league wins saw the scoreline 0-0 at HT. 

Best Bet: Under 0.5 goals in 1st Half at 2.65

Friday 14 August

21:00 – Barcelona v Bayern Munich

Barcelona beat Napoli 3-1 over the weekend to secure their spot in the final eight of the UCL. Barcelona scored the opener before the 25th minute for their fourth match in a row (three times by Barcelona), and also means the Catalans have scored a whopping three goals before HT in each of their previous two matches. Barcelona have lost just one of their last 13 matches and are unbeaten in eight UCL fixtures despite being the bookies’ underdogs this is one.

A 4-1 thrashing of Chelsea gave German champions Bayern Munich their 18th win on the trot, the last four saw Bayern score the opener inside the opening 20 minutes. Some numbers from the 18 match run – 10 of those 18 games saw over 3.5 match goals, whilst 13 featured over 2.5.

Best Bet: Bayern to win and over 2.5 goals at 2.65

Saturday 15 August

21:00 – Manchester City v Lyon

After a 4-2 aggregate win over Real Madrid in the previous round, Pep Guardiola’s men are big favourites and could fell this is their season. The manager is yet to win this competition since his days at Barcelona. Manchester City enter this clash unbeaten in nine UCL matches, both teams scored in the last six of those matches

Also, four of City’s last five UCL wins have seen a level HT scoreline. It is also worth noting that three of City’s last four UCL wins have produced exactly three goals after HT.

They are big underdogs here but this will suit Lyon who will want to be underestimated. Lyon have lost each of their last three UCL matches played outside of France and were outscored 3:1 across those losses. 

Best Bet: Manchester City to win to zero at 1.86

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