Champions League Betting: Could AC spring a surprise on Europe's elite?

Champions League / Andrew Clarke / 27 August 2010 / Leave a Comment

A cheeky Ronaldinho surprises the Barca lineup - can he pull a fast one on Real Madrid in Group G

"No competition in club football is more closely scrutinised than the Champions League so finding a diamond in the rough to polish up and make you some money isn’t easy, but this year there could be one: SC Braga from Portugal"

Andrew Clarke picks through Thursday's Champions League draw for the best betting nuggets - and there's value to be had backing sides from Italy and Portugal

You can say what you like about the draw for the Champions League draw - and most tend to remark that it's an overly-long, drawn-out process with more than a hint of Eurovision about it - but its main function is to provide eight groups from which Europe's biggest clubs can emerge unscathed ready for the later stages. In that regard it was once again an overwhelming success.

If UEFA wanted high-profile early casualties then they would never have altered the original straight knockout format, but big fish can still slip through the net as Manchester United discovered in 2005/6 and Liverpool found to their cost last season.

So where might this term's surprises spring from? Well not from group D where Barcelona could put out a second team and still win with Panathinaikos, Rubin Kazan and FC Copenhagen for company and are rightly [1.07] to do just that. Such a price may not appeal but it is an absolute, nailed-on certainty. People often say that "you never know in football." Actually sometimes you do and this is one of them.

The "group of death" would appear to be group G which is contested by AC Milan, Real Madrid, Ajax and Auxerre and the odds make interesting reading. After not making it past the round of 16 in their last five seasons Real's aristocrats found themselves slumming it in pot two but despite that and despite their draw are still favourites to top the group at [1.45] thanks to the arrival of Jose Mourinho. And it's still a pretty generous price.

History shows that the Special One's influence must not be underestimated and when you add in the fact that he'll be teaming up with Ronaldo and Kaka, who'll be desperate to put disappointing World Cups behind them, world cup winners Xabi Alonso, Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos as well as Germany's Mesut Ozil those odds grow on you by the minute.

Meanwhile, almost unnoticed, Massimiliano Allegri has sidled into the AC Milan hot seat at the San Siro. Heard of him? Not many have, but when you add that their supposedly ageing squad and see odds of [4.5] for a top seeded team that's made two finals in the last five years to win their group. Opportunities like that don't come along often and are not to be missed. But on the other hand if you really do think AC Milan could go the way of Liverpool last season, who had a similar recent record at the time, then Ajax to qualify at [3.0] might prick your interest.

The most open group is B with Lyon [2.8], Benfica [3.35] and Schalke [3.45] fighting it out to finish top. They all represent real value and for that reason it's a tricky one to call but maybe after an absence of two years from the continent's top table Benfica will be hungriest for success?

No competition in club football is more closely scrutinised than the Champions League so finding a diamond in the rough to polish up and make you some money isn't easy, but this year there could be one: SC Braga from Portugal. After finishing second to Benfica and ahead of Sporting and Porto in their domestic league last season to qualify they've already beaten Celtic and Sevilla over two legs this term to get to the group stage. They're known as the "Arsenalistas" due to their red and white kit and could cause Arsene Wenger's men problems in group H. Prices of [9.0] to win the group and [1.9] to get through to the knockout stages make good sense.

Recommended Bet:
AC Milan to win Group G at [4.5]

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