Live on ITV1: Wed 19.45: Barcelona are 3/1 to win at Chelsea by one goal (Ladbrokes) in an exciting looking Champions League semi final.
Chelsea will be bouncing after a resounding win in the FA Cup but Barcelona are a sobering prospect and Blue Square make the Blues a sizeable 4/1 at home to win the first leg and 9/2 to make the final.
Pep Guardiola’s men, 8/11 with Coral, will pass and pass until the Chelsea defence are dizzy and this is not a problem Di Matteo had against Spurs – the game was much quicker and suited counter attacks and provided mistakes.
Barcelona will not allow this. With the onus firmly on Chelsea, the Catalans will stay nice and solid and look to counter whilst keeping as much possession as possible. With the crowd behind them, Chelsea could go in at the break level, a 13/10 chance with bet365.
But as Benfica showed, quality possession unsettled Chelsea and it was only when the game was desperate did they look like scoring a second. The best Chelsea can hope for is a draw, 3/1 with Paddy Power, while a 0-0 result, which Milan achieved in the quarters, is 12/1 with Boylesports.
However, Barcelona have the quality to exploit a Chelsea side perhaps too eager to score so Stan James’ 7/2 for a Barcelona win following a drawn first half looks good while a Barca win by just one goal is good at 3/1 (Ladbrokes). A 2-1 win comes in at 15/2 with BetVictor.
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