Although they don’t deserve to be in this position, Shakhtar
Donetsk face an enormous mountain to climb in order to deny Barcelona a place
in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals.
Many felt that Shakhtar Donetsk would be a tricky opponent for
Barcelona, given their fantastic record here. They ad not been beaten at home
in any competition since October 2008 - a run of 55 matches before slumping to
a shock 1-0 defeat to 10-man Obolon Kyiv on Saturday.
 |
| Iniesta opens the scoring at the Camp Nou |
Many will be surprised to see Barcelona” as big as evens”
with Ladbrokes did but there are factors in that price. Shakhtar create plenty
of chances and could easily have score two more goals, Adriano himself having
went went close on two occasions having hit the post and spurning an early
one-on-one with Victor Valdes. In the 2008/2009 season, Barca beat Bayern
Munich 4-0 at home only to draw 1-1 away in Germany.
Despite all the facts and statistics, I’m not tempted at all
by Shakatar at 11/4. The dismissive attitude that so many feel Barca will show
has not been given by the team. I quote striker Pedro when he said;
“Although we are defending a good result it will be tremendously
difficult," Pedro said. “There are 90 minutes and anything can happen.
They have a great team. In the King's Cup we saw what happened against Real
Betis (Barca won 5-0 at home and then lost 3-1 away)."We won't change our
style. We'll go there to attack and to score goals."
Another important factor would be that the team would want
to carry on momentum, as they have that tiny matter of El Clasico at the
weekend against Real Madrid.
In any case, the hosts are without two influential leaders
in Razvan Rat and Darijo Srna, both of whom featured in the first-leg defeat in
Spain, but even more crucial will be the continued absence of failed Barcelona
full – back Dmytro Chygrynskiy, leaving them vulnerable at the back.
Barcelona without the injured Carles Puyol, Eric Abidal and
Bojan Krkic while Andres Iniesta is suspended, meaning the start for Thiago,
Gabriel Milito, Ibrahim Afellay and possibly goalkeeper Pinto.
Goals are sure to be on the menu, with so many defensive absences,
but 4/6 for over 2.5 is too short and 13/8 for over 3.5 goals is also on the
stingy side. 8/13 about both teams scoring is fair but short, while little else
makes appeal.
Shakhtar's unbeaten European run stretches back to 12 games,
but they have won just once in six attempts against Spanish opposition, and
Barcelona might not be going through the motions as many expect. They could
have a few slips ups as well, so back them to win not to nil and also to come
out on top.
Advice
1 pt Barcelona to beat Shakatar (6/5 Paddy Power)
1 pt Barcelona to win not to nil (5/2 Coral)
No comments:
Post a Comment