Champions League Results: Marvellous Messi means Barcelona are just 3.0

Champions League / Jamie "The Pacman" Pacheco / 17 March 2010 / 2 Comments

Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were both on the scoresheet tonight

The history books say no-one has successfully defended their Champions League title but on the evidence of tonight’s performance, only the bravest of layers on Betfair are offering odds of 3.0 that Barcelona won’t be doing just that. Pep Guardiola’s side outclassed Stuttgart in all departments during tonight’s second leg and in hindsight the in-running 1.37 about a home win was a case of “buying money” as Barcelona cruised to a 4-0 win.

The Catalans were only ever matched at a high of 1.34 on the “to qualify” market, when they were trailing the German side 1-0 in the first leg, whilst the “any unquoted” runner in the correct score market drifted to 5.4 before Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s last-minute goal.

No Barcelona rout would be complete without a significant contribution from the genial Lionel Messi and this match was no exception. The Argentinean scored the first and third goals of the match and has gone second-favourite to finish as the competition’s top scorer this year at odds of 3.4. Wayne Rooney’s odds are slightly bigger at 3.6 whilst Cristiano Ronaldo, who won’t be adding to his goal tally this year after Real were knocked out of the competition, is still the favourite at 2.26.

Over in Bordeaux, the French champions also booked their place in the quarter-finals but it was from straightforward. They did take the lead but Olympiacos hit back to level the score at 1-1 and at that stage another goal by the Greeks would have knocked Laurent Blanc’s side out. But it wasn’t to be and a late strike from long-term Arsenal target Marouane Chamakh ensured Bordeaux (matched at a high of 5.6) won the match in the end by 2-1. Bordeaux now trade at odds of 25.0 to win the Champions League, after being backed at odds of 390 earlier on in the competition.

Barcelona and Bordeaux are through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League after home wins with that man Lionel Messi on fire again...

The history books say no-one has successfully defended their Champions League title but on the evidence of tonight's performance, only the bravest of layers on Betfair are offering odds of [3.0] that Barcelona won't be doing just that. Pep Guardiola's side outclassed Stuttgart in all departments during tonight's second leg and in hindsight the in-running 1.37 about a home win was a case of "buying money" as Barcelona cruised to a 4-0 win.

The Catalans were only ever matched at a high of [1.34] on the "to qualify" market, when they were trailing the German side 1-0 in the first leg, whilst the "any unquoted" runner in the correct score market drifted to [5.4] before Zlatan Ibrahimovic's last-minute goal.

No Barcelona rout would be complete without a significant contribution from the genial Lionel Messi and this match was no exception. The Argentinean scored the first and third goals of the match and has gone second-favourite to finish as the competition's top scorer this year at odds of [3.4]. Wayne Rooney's odds are slightly bigger at 3.6 whilst Cristiano Ronaldo, who won't be adding to his goal tally this year after Real were knocked out of the competition, is still the favourite at [2.26].

Over in Bordeaux, the French champions also booked their place in the quarter-finals but it was from straightforward. They did take the lead but Olympiacos hit back to level the score at 1-1 and at that stage another goal by the Greeks would have knocked Laurent Blanc's side out. But it wasn't to be and a late strike from long-term Arsenal target Marouane Chamakh ensured Bordeaux (matched at a high of [5.6]) won the match in the end by 2-1. Bordeaux now trade at odds of [25.0] to win the Champions League, after being backed at odds of [390.0] earlier on in the competition.

Comments (2)

1. vincent iheke | 18 March 2010

   wow! i couldnt have more surprised! once again messi has proven his worth. i give it up for him.

2. mulindwa Lambert. | 19 March 2010

   Great Barcelona but they will be humulated by the Gunners in emirates stadium. i pray that barc and man u be humulated in quarter finals. other wise Arsenal is as Barcelona. I like both teams. But am predicting that Arsenal will nock Barcelona out in thisquarters. Thanks very much be blessed.
   Faithfully,
   Mulindwa Lambert
   From Uganda.