UEFA Champions' League Q/F's 2nd Leg (6/04-7/04)

Barcelona v Arsenal
Manchester United v Bayern Munich


Tuesday, April 6

Barcelona v Arsenal

Verdict: The first leg encounter, a week ago, definitely lived up to expectations. Barcelona came away with a 2-2 result at the Emirates but it could of been much much better for the Catalan side. Almunia played out of his skin, especially in the first half, to keep Arsenal in the tie. Barcelona enjoyed 62% possession and amassed 17 attempts at goal to Arsenal's 6, indicating the Spanish side's dominance on proceedings. Arsenal did manage to recover from a 2 goal deficit thanks to a late second half surge but this tie will be much more difficult for the visitors.

Barcelona will dominate the midfield once again at Camp Nou so the absentees of first choice centre-backs, Puyol and Pique, will not be so damaging. The experienced Abidal and Marquez are the likely replacements. A more worrying absentee for the home side is 2-goal hero in London, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who misses out through injury. Barcelona do have lots of scoring options and create many goal scoring opportunities so maybe this will not be a disaster for the home side.
Arsenal are well under-strength in some key areas with midfielders Fabregas, Song, and Arshavin missing for this encounter. Experienced centre-back, William Gallas, also misses out through injury. His place will be taken by either Campbell or Silvestre, both not the quickest by any means. Walcott did pose problems for Barcelona when he came on as a substitute but he will most probably start for this visitors. I don't think he will be as affective as a first 11 player.

Arsenal have won only twice on their travels in their last 9 Champions League encounters. On evidence of the first leg in addition to injuries to key midfield men, I can't see the visitors progressing to the semi-finals.

Pick: Barcelona -1.5AH @2.02 (pinnacle, 10 units)
Barcelona 4 - 1 Arsenal

Wednesday, April 7

Manchester United v Bayern Munch

Verdict: Bayern Munich take a 2-1 first leg lead into Old Trafford against a Rooney-less Manchester United. United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, has insisted that Rooney is highly unlikely to feature tonight with the Premier League season still on the line. Meanwhile, the visitors are at near full strength with Arjen Robben recovering from injury.

Manchester United are in a bad spot at the moment, following up the defeat in Munich with a 1-2 loss against title rivals Chelsea. In contrast, Bayern Munich go into this match in high spirits, winning their top of the table clash at Schalke to lead the Bundesliga. Tracking our minds back to the first leg, Bayern Munich did dominate for large periods of the game following Rooney's early goal. Manchester United can thank Van Der Sar for been on top of his game otherwise his side may have very well have had one foot out the door.

I believe Bayern Munich have the ability to get a favourable result at Old Trafford, especially now that Rooney is not involved. The visitors have wingers such as Robben, Ribery, Schweinstiger, and Altintop who can probe at Manchester United's weaknesses, the left and right back positions. Evra has not been himself for much of the season where as the right-back position is Manchester United's most problematic with Neville too old and Fabio/Rafael too young. Bayern Munich have shown in recent years that they are more than capable of getting a result away from home. The Germans have only lost 3 of their last 10 on their travels and with form and team news in their favour, I expect them to improve on that record.

Pick: Bayern Munich +0.75AH @1.89 (stanjames, 10 units)
Manchester United 3 - 2 Bayern Munich