The Champions League round of 16 continues on Wednesday with Italian giants Juventus travelling to Group C runners-up FC Porto and La Liga top-four hopefuls Sevilla hosting out-of-sorts Borussia Dortmund.
Juventus topped a section featuring Barcelona, Dynamo Kiev and Ferencvaros to make the competition’s last 16, while Porto placed behind Manchester City in their pool. As for Sevilla, they finished second in Group E above Rennes and Krasnodar but behind Chelsea, while opponents Dortmund finished about Lazio, Club Brugge and Zenit St Petersburg in Group F.
Juventus Can Put Aside League Inconsistencies
Juventus may well lose their stranglehold on the Serie A title this season due to the form of the two Milan clubs but the Old Lady could find some solace in the Champions League.
They have failed to win either of their last two matches in all competitions but the first of those was a 0-0 draw against Inter in the second leg of the Coppa Italia semi-finals which Juve already led 2-1 on aggregate.
And they were unfortunate not to get something out of their 1-0 defeat to Napoli last time out, winning the shot count 24-8 and seeing 63 per cent of the ball.
Recent Form Offers Juve Encouragement
Prior to those games, Juventus had won six matches on the spin and they look in good shape to see off a Porto side who are barely in the title race in the Portuguese top flight, trailing leaders Sporting Lisbon by ten points.
Porto have drawn each of their last four matches with B-SAD (formerly Belenenses), Braga (twice) and Boavista and they faced little competition in the group stage of the competition, finishing second to Manchester City but above poor Olympiakos and Marseille sides.
At 1/1 Juventus look a great bet to win, while more optimistic punters may stretch to the 21/10 for them to do so with a clean sheet, as they did in triumphing 2-0 in Porto four years ago.
Sevilla’s Exceptional Run Set to Continue
Sevilla were far from breathtaking at the weekend but their 1-0 victory over Huesca in La Liga on Saturday made it nine straight wins in all competitions, having won to nil in each of their last seven assignments.
That run has included comfortable home successes over the likes of Valencia, Getafe and Barcelona, who they lead 2-0 after the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals.
Los Rojiblancos are therefore well-versed in knockout football going into their clash with Borussia Dortmund and look a great bet at 27/20 to win the match.
Defence Key for Los Rojiblancos
Centre-back partnership Jules Kounde and Diego Carlos have been formidable for the Andalusians but the same cannot be said for the defence of Borussia Dortmund, who are currently sixth in the Bundesliga and have won only two of their last seven matches.
Der BVB have conceded in each of those matches and shipped at least twice in five of them with Edin Terzic having come under pressure since replacing Lucien Favre.
They allowed Hoffenheim 13 shots in their previous game, defending really poorly on that occasion, and are worth opposing in this Champions League tie, with another home win to zero is 3/1.
*All odds correct at time of writing.