Prediction, Odds & Betting Tips for AS Monaco vs. Barcelona at UEFA Champions League
Prediction, Odds & Betting Tips for AS Monaco vs. Barcelona at UEFA Champions League
Monaco plays very appealing and interesting football, and their results are solid at the moment. Yet, will that be enough to restrain the fantastic Barcelona, which exploded under the guidance of Hansi Flick? For the moment, Blaugrana looks like the team from several years ago when they dominated the European continent. We’ve seen in recent times that the venue doesn’t present a problem for the team from Catalonia, as they dispatch all of their rivals pretty easily.
AS Monaco
Monaco has three wins and a tie in the French league and looks like a perfect challenger for PSG and its reign. Even though the season is still early, Monaco showed signs of a potential title contender, beating Lyon on the road and posting three clean sheets in all of its victories.
The first round was vs. St. Etienne at home, 1-0, followed by a triumph in Lyon, 0-2, and a tie at home against Lens, 1-1. Last weekend, we saw the unit from the Mediterranian coast defeat Auxerre away from home, 0-3, posting an impressive victory.
They are still emphasizing an offensive approach on the field, yet they severely improved the defensive aspect of the game. This is noticeable due to all the clean sheets recorded in such a short period of time.
Barcelona
The way Barcelona “flicked” under the German manager is impressive. We knew that the team would be much better than in the past under Xavi because Flick likes to play total football, but we couldn’t predict such an explosive start to his stint at Camp Nou.
Barcelona’s previous two victories have been fantastic, with them trashing Valladolid at home, 7-0 and then Girona, 1-4 on the road. Remember the latter is also a Champions League team, yet Barcelona blew it into pieces already in the opening 45 minutes.
All of Barca’s recent events have involved three or more goals, and all but one ended with hits on both ends of the field. Simply, that’s Flicks’s philosophy: He wants as many goals scored as possible, regardless of what happens on the defensive end.
Monaco: Kohn; Vanderson, Singo, Kehrer, Henrique; Magassa, Zakaria; Minamino, Akliouche, Ben Seghir; Embolo
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Kounde, Cubarsi, Martinez, Balde; Casado, Pedri; Yamal, Olmo, Raphinha; Lewandowski
Monaco and Barcelona played in the 1993/94 Champions League, with the Spanish team winning both events, 2-0 at home and 0-1 on the road.
Despite Monaco’s excellent results we have to go with Barcelona here. They are playing superb football and developing excellent chemistry in such a short period of time that it surprised us as well. Therefore our pick here is Barca to win.
Our verdict: Barcelona wins