Barstool’s Champions League Preview – Matchday 3(a)
Sam’s Soccer Safe Space For Stoolies
Hello haters,
“THE CHAMMMMMMMPIONNNNNNNNNNS”
The two sexiest words in all of sports. Suddenly our Tuesday doesn’t seem nearly as bleak. Ready?
Grand, let’s get to it…
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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Quick reminder of what happened on Matchday 2:
Which after two games means the eight group table look like this:
Clubs on 6 points (Napoli, Barcelona, Atletico and Leicester) are all sitting pretty, whereas all the teams in 4th place (with the possible exception of CSKA given the way Group E has played out so far) are in dire straits. Still too early to worry about the various iterations of how things could play out, but needless to say securing wins – especially at home – is a must for ensuring advancement.
As for the midweek schedule in front of us, this is what we’ve got:
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Tuesday’s Picks
I thought for a second that Leicester was going to get left out in the cold for the second time in three matchdays since they didn’t show up on any of the FOX networks, but there they are on espn2. As for the “game of the day” (the only importance of which means I’ll start with it), I am going with…
Bayer [+120]
Tottenham [+220]
Draw [+240]
Bayer has drawn twice in UCL action while Spurs bounced back from an ugly loss at home to Monaco with a win away at CSKA. The loss of Toby Alderwiereld at the back for Spurs may prove even more costly than the continued absence of Harry Kane up top. Eric Dier may be the key to the game for Spurs as he slots in next to Jan Vertonghen at CB. Slowing the likes of Chicarito on foreign soil is a tough task, but with covering help from Victor Wanyama in midfield it is – in my unbiased opinion – doable. Gimme a 1-1 draw.
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Sporting [+230]
Dortmund [+115]
Draw [+260]
It is our sworn duty as Americans to jump on the Dortmund bandwagon, so you have permission to b-smack any individuals rooting too vociferously for Sporting today. Having said that though, if you saw how the Portuguese club looked on the road against Real Madrid on the first matchday (never mind their dominance of Legia at home last time out), you would be tripping over yourself to lay some wood on the home side given the tastiness of those odds. Sporting to win 2-1. [Note: is it a “lock”? Aw helllll no, but I will say it’s my favorite play of the day.]
Saving it for dos-a-cero, smart
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Other picks (because the more I toss out there the better than chances I eventually get one right):
• Look at all the zeros! Real Madrid [-3000] versus Legia [+4000]… as I’ve often said, you can’t win the lottery without buying a ticket. This, however, is not a lottery. This is an ass whooping. Real Madrid to win 5-0.
• Lucky, Lucky Leicester [-110] may have run out of good fortune in recent weeks but, thankfully for the Foxes, they can still bask in the glory of having been drawn into easily the weakest group. Copenhagen [320] is not all that good, plain and simple (relatively speaking anyway). Leicester may be out of sorts domestically at the moment but they’ve got way too many horses for the Danes to handle. Leciester to win 4-2.
• Monaco [+190] is a bit schizophrenic. They can look pretty solid in some games (take the away win against listless Spurs), then awful (losing 0-4 to Nice), then like an offensive dynamo (7-0 win over Metz), and then look horseshit again (3-1 loss to Toulouse) – and that’s all within just the last month. As for CSKA [+155], the Russkis are approximately who we thought they were. My assumption is that Monaco will win this game because it would be bad for Spurs, which – if you know a little bit about how the world works – seems like a pretty safe bet. Monaco to win 3-1.
• Lyon’s [+425] president admitted his club has a “10% chance, at best” of beating Juventus [-140]. Nothing like a vote of confidence to get your boys pumped and ready for battle. Alas, ol Frenchie is right. Lyon is dealing with too many injuries, and with Sami Khedira and Miralem Pjanic feeding an in-form Paolo Dybala. Also, more importantly:
Pick against that at your own peril. Juventus to win 2-0.
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Reminder: got another biggggggggg slate tomorrow including Arsenal, City versus Barcelona, and Manchester United.
Holler,
Sam U.L. Army