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Barcelona are big favourites to qualify for the Champions League Final but Chris Hutcheon reckons Inter Milan will have the edge tonight.
All of the talk ahead of Inter Milan and Barcelona’s Champions League showdown is about how the ‘Special One’ will attempt to shackle a very special player in Lionel Messi. The Argentine wizard almost single-handedly dismantled Arsenal in the Camp Nou in the quarter final and so Jose Mourinho is sure to be working on a game plan to lessen the impact of the Barca star in the San Siro.
One thing is for sure, Inter won’t afford Messi the amount of space the Gunners did and although bookies think that he will strike, Victor Chandler making Messi evens to find the net, Mourinho might just have the tactical nous to keep him under wraps; certainly in the first leg.
Nevertheless, Barcelona have other players that can turn a game and they’re Betfred’s 7/5 favourites to prevail in Italy but motivated by Mourinho, the hosts will rightly approach the contest without fear and it’s they that appeal the most at 21/10 (bet365), although William Hill’s 9/4 for them to go on and qualify remains a risk.
Of course, some punters may understandably wish to adopt a more cautious approach and for them Internazionale are 6/5 in Ladbrokes’ ‘Draw No Bet’ market, but the bold could secure greater rewards by speculating on a 1-0 home win at 8/1 (Betdaq) or alternatively tackling 888Sport’s 11/4 for the hosts to nullify the Catalan Giants to keep a clean sheet.
At the other end, Samuel Eto’o is 7/1 at 888Sport to break the deadlock but Diego Milito, who could come up against brother Gabriel, might prove to be the danger man for Inter; Totesport pricing him at 13/2 to strike first.
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