Champions League Betting: Barcelona v Stuttgart

Champions League / Richard Aikman / 16 March 2010 / 1 Comments

Lionel Messi has scored six times since these two met two weeks ago

"As they demonstrated against the European champions and in their match against Werder Bremen, Stuttgart are strong starters, with a general inability to hold on to a lead, while Barcelona have not scored in the first half in three of their last four matches."

Stuttgart had their chances in the first leg to give themselves a real chance in this tie and having drawn 1-1, they have it all to do. Barcelona should go through and will probably win the match but don't expect them to be up at half-time says Richard Aikman.

Stuttgart gave an excellent performance to hold Barcelona to a 1-1 draw at the Mercedes-Benz Arena but the return in Catalonia promises to be a different proposition entirely for Christian Gross' side, which is why they are rated [16.0] long shots in the match odds market.

The Bundesliga outfit got off to a perfect start in the first leg, taking the lead through the impressive Cacau on 25 minutes, who headed in Timo Glebhart's cross and threatened again before the break only to be denied by the feet of Victor Valdes. Timo Glebhart, Christian Träsch and Pavel Pogrebnyak also missed chances against a below-par Blaugrana outfit.

In truth the hosts did have the post to thank for preventing a Lionel Messi effort and conceded the equaliser within seven minutes of the restart when Zlatan Ibrahimović finished off Gerard Piqué's knockdown at the second attempt. Barça dominated possession but uncharacteristically lacked the cutting edge and in fact could have been 2-1 down had Sami Khedira not wasted Cacau's cutback.

However, that encounter was three weeks ago and since then Stuttgart's form has started to wane in stark contrast to Barca's, which has skyrocketed. Four points in three matches is a disappointing return for the ninth-placed Schwaben, who were guilty of turning a two-goal lead into a draw at Werder Bremen and making defensive mistakes in the 2-1 loss at FC Schalke this weekend. A third away match has come at the wrong time, especially as they will need to score at least twice to shock Pep Guardiola's side.

The draw is worth considering at [6.8] as Barca only need a goalless draw to reach the last eight, but the Spanish giants have won twice at home since their trip to Germany and Messi has scored six times. The 2009 World Player of the Year scored a scintillating second-half hat-trick against a decent Valencia side to reveal both a striker and a side tuning up nicely for the defence of their league and European crown.

But if the [1.25] about a home win is too restrictive the half/time/full-time is worth looking at. As they demonstrated against the European champions and in their match against Werder Bremen, Stuttgart are strong starters, with a general inability to hold on to a lead, while Barcelona have not scored in the first half in three of their last four matches. Barça's last three matches have read: draw/Barcelona (v Malaga); draw/draw (v Almeria); Draw/Barcelona (v Valencia). So a double bet on draw/draw at [11.0] and draw/Barcelona at [4.8] for the slow-starting Spaniards is advised.

Recommended Bets:

Back Half-time/Full-time: draw/draw @ [11] and draw/Barcelona @ [4.8]; Lay Barcelona to score in both halves at [1.96].

Comments (1)

1. duncan | 18 March 2010

   Messi is the man