The first round of Champions League matches in the group stage are always interesting. Teams love to feel each other out and see what they can bring to the table in the biggest competition of the year. That said, this is also a fixture list that is coming fresh off of an international break, and that could bring fitness into the equation as well, particularly for some of the bigger teams going against some of the minnows of the bunch.
These Champions League duels will go down Tuesday, September 12, with all of the kickoffs taking place at 2:45 p.m. ET. The Manchester United/FC Basel match will be televised live on FOX Sports 1, while the Barcelona/Juventus affair can be seen on FOX Sports 2.
Champions League Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
AS Roma ( +155 ) vs. Atletico Madrid
Barcelona ( -140 ) vs. Juventus
Bayern Munich ( -1100 ) vs. Anderlecht
Benfica ( -140 ) vs. CSKA Moscow
Celtic ( +850 ) vs. PSG
Chelsea ( -1000 ) vs. Qarabag
Manchester United ( -500 ) vs. FC Basel
Olympiakos ( +155 ) vs. Sporting Lisbon
The Premier League should be off and running in the Champions League this year. Four of its five entrants into the group stage of this competition should have no problems advancing into the knockout rounds, including the two that play on Tuesday. Chelsea and Manchester United are kicking off on the first day of play, and these two teams are both massive favorites at home.
The Blues, who have been struggling at the start of the season, had better not slip up at home against Qarabag in what will be the very first match by an Azerbaijani team in the group stage of the Champions League. Manchester United, meanwhile, is a massive -500 favorite at home against FC Basel, a team it has had all sorts of trouble against recently in the Champions League. The Swiss squad picked up four points in two matches in the 2011 group stage against the Red Devils and will be looking to inflict some more damage on Tuesday.
The match with the most eyes on it will clearly be the Barcelona/Juventus affair from the Nou Camp. Both of these teams struggled more than they should have during the transfer window, but both are going to be legitimate threats to win the Champions League this year. The Catalan side is going to want to prove that it can still be the team to beat at this level even with Neymar being transferred to PSG, while Juve knows that this is a match with nothing to lose.
Last year in the quarterfinals of this tournament, Juventus blew away Barcelona 3-0 in Turin before playing out a scoreless draw at Camp Nou to move onto the semifinals of the event. You can bet that Barca is going to want its revenge.
The match that is flying under the radar the most is the Roma/Atletico Madrid fixture. Roma isn't going to have many chances to really take advantage of one of the big boys in Group C, and it figures to have to win at least one of these matches at home against either Atletico Madrid or Chelsea somewhere along the way to survive and reach the Round of 16. The Italian side is actually the slight +155 favorite in what should be a gritty, defensive affair. A scoreless draw would suit Atletico just fine.
Bayern Munich and PSG are setup for squash matches against Anderlecht and Celtic respectively, while the closest fixture of the day will come from Group D between Sporting Lisbon and Olympiacos. The Greek side will be at home and be the +155 favorite to take all three points. If either one of these teams thinks that it has a shot against Barca or Juve in this group, it'll have to sweep the other and take all six points in the two fixtures. A draw simply won't do either team any good in this affair, and that could create a wide open, incredibly fun match.
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go.
Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook!
