Last night we saw the best of the established European old
guard in Barcelona (even though held at PSG), Bayern and Juventus, but in
Borussia Dortmund and Malaga we have two of the up and coming clubs in Europe
in one of the most hotly anticipated Champions league quarter finals this
season.
Malaga – who many had forgotten were tipped to be one best
in Spain outside of the big two when the subject of a takeover and subsequent
spending splurge when taken over by Sheikh Abdullah Al-Thani nearly three years
ago – have fulfilled all that promise and more with their fourth place finish
last year guaranteeing them at least a shot at Champions League football this
season which they’ve taken with relish, topping a group with AC Milan and Zenit
and overturning a 1-0 first leg defeat against Porto in style with a
comprehensive victory here in the last 16.
Never more impressive than when they were at home – Zenit
were taken apart on the first matchday and AC Milan were dispatched in the
manner of a team that had played at this level for years- Malaga cannot be
underestimated and Roman Weidenfeller’s statement that his side will treat this
quarter-final clash as if it's against Barcelona and Real Madrid is a
reassuring view for those who have been steadily supporting them into a best
price of 15/2 before tonight’s quarter final first leg.
Despite being in the toughest group in the competition –
with Ajax, Manchester City and Real Madrid in opposition, taking into account
their last 16 tie against Shakhtar Donestsk, Dortmund have played only league
champions so far in the Champions League and are still the only unbeaten side
left in the competition, a very impressive achievement for a side which was
eliminated at the group stage only a year ago with largely the same squad.
Some might be scared off taking a price of 11/8 for Dortmund
to take a lead back to Germany judged by the fact that Malaga have won four of
their five Champions League home games, keeping clean sheets in all four
victories, but Dortmund were very unlucky not to have taken the honours from
Real Madrid and Manchester City, while they were more than competitive against
Shakhtar Donetsk. Convincing home victories against all three explain an
unabackable price of 1/3 for the men in yellow to make it to the semi finals,
but they’ve been more than good enough on the road to suggest they will cause
Malaga some serious trouble tonight. Considering that the only two games in
which they’ve kept a clean sheet have been one sided home victories, the 10/3
on Dortmund winning and Malaga scoring offered by Ladbrokes may well be more
value than any of the match odds – consider 2-1 as a correct score, as Bet
Victor are offering upto£10 back on losers as a free bet on next week’s action –
and the option of both teams to score looks to be a very attractive option at
8/11 – Dortmund have failed to score in only two of 40 matches this season,
conceding on every away trip, while Malaga have never failed to score at home.
Advice
1 pt Both teams to score and Borussia Dortmund to win (10/3
Ladbrokes)
2 pts Both teams to score (8/11 general)
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