Sports Blog 08/03/2016: Match Preview – UEFA Champions League Last 16 2nd Legs, Tuesday 8th March 2016

The Champions League continues this week, with both a European legend and a competition debutante aiming to reach the quarter-finals.

With their La Liga title hopes rapidly fading Real Madrid will be eager to blow away Roma when the 2 sides meet at 7.45pm on BT Sport Europe. With 10 games left Real are 12 points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona, and 4 behind 2nd place Atletico Madrid, their end of February loss to the latter (following a 1-1 draw at Malaga) denting their title-hopes in a league where only flawlessness is accepted at the top level. Zinedine Zidane’s side certainly bounced back with vengeance after that derby defeat, however, a 3-1 win over Levante followed by a 7-1 demolition of Celta Vigo, with Cristiano Ronaldo (at a Super Mega PGM of 90-105) scoring 4. Madrid also go into Tuesday’s 2nd leg with 2 away goals, courtesy of Ronaldo (of course) and Jese, a solid lead that Roma may find hard to overcome at the Bernabeu.



It is crazy to think that, despite winning just 1 game in Europe this season, Roma are still in the competition. Anyway, after a wobble at the start of the New Year saw the Italian side with 4 draws and 1 loss Roma have turned things around, winning their last 7 Serie A games in style, scoring 22 goals and conceding only 5. That leaves them back in 3rd place; admittedly, 5 behind Napoli and 8 behind Juventus, but with a comfortable 3 point gap between them and Fiorentina the other side. Since arriving on loan from AC Milan Stephan El Shaarway (at a Super Mega PGM of 10-14) has been in fantastic form, scoring 5 in his last 7 games, whilst Mohamed Salah (at a Super Mega PGM of 11-15) remains the club’s top scorer with 12 goals all competitions.

Given the rampage Madrid seem to be on at the moment, and Roma’s abject failure in Europe this season, our Spreadex traders are expecting a heavy home win, offering a Real Madrid/Roma Goal Supremacy spread of 1.5-1.7 with a Total Goals spread of 3.4-3.6.

Whilst not of the same historic calibre as Tuesday’s other game, the last match between Wolfsburg and Gent was arguably one of the last 16’s best; they will be aiming to replicate that magic when they meet at 7.45pm on BT Sport 2. After gradually accruing a comfortable 3-0 lead, with goals either side of half time from Julian Draxler (at a Super Mega PGM of 20-23) capped off by a 60th minute strike from Max Kruse, Wolfsburg then conspired to throw it all away in the final 10 minutes in Belgium, Gent dragging themselves back into the competition thanks to Sven Kums and Kalifa Coulibaly (at Super Mega PGMs of 8-11 and 17-21 respectively).



Those 3 away goals should stand Wolfsburg in good stead when the sides meet in the Volkswagen Area; however, Gent’s tenacity means that the surprise team of the competition can’t be dismissed just quite yet, as Lyon, Valencia and Zenit St. Petersburg found out in the group stages. Our Spreadex traders are slightly less optimistic about the Belgian champions’ chances, however, offering a Wolfsburg/Gent Goal Supremacy spread of 1-1.2 with a Total Goals spread of 2.95-3.15.

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