Draw in Marseille no disaster for Man Utd
Manchester United were forced to settle for a draw in Marseille in a first-leg encounter short on chances but the result is far from a bad one for the three-time winners, who are resounding [1.34] favourites to progress to the quarter-finals at the French champions' expense.
It was Sir Alex Ferguson's side's first stalemate in the competition for two years, the last coming in the round-of-16 in 2008-09 against Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan, and the scoreline proved to be a good one for the Premier League giants on that occasion as they finished off the job at Old Trafford.
Marseille are certainly going to have a tough time scoring an away goal judging by Manchester United's incredible European record this season, conceding only once in seven matches, so if they can keep the clean sheet streak alive then all they will need to do is score once ensure progress.
The Red Devils remain fifth favourites to take home the trophy at Wembley in May at [9.8], however the big movers are the team that conquered them last term, Bayern Munich, who have shot all the way in to [13.0] courtesy of a 1-0 victory at the home of their final opponents last year, Inter Milan.
A Julio Cesar fumble at the death allowed in-form Mario Gomez to pounce and Louis van Gaal perhaps psyched out Nerazzurri counterpart Leonardo before kick-off with his claim that Inter are a defensive side. The holders disproved the Dutch tactician during the game, but was that his intention? Inter are now [4.5] to continue their defence into the quarter-finals.
With all eight second-round ties at the halfway stage, the standout trend is that only one of the eight away teams were beaten, the [3.3] tournament favourites Barcelona. Four visitors triumphed with a further three drawing, so the consequence is that each of the second-leg hosting octet are odds-on to go through.
Will there be any surprises next month? Share your thoughts below...
Published: 24 Feb 2011
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