The time for messing around in the group stage of the Champions League is already over with. Most of the big boys came out of the blocks two weeks ago and took care of business. But for the teams that didn’t, it’s business time on Match Day 2 this week. A second straight less than superior result will surely have inferior teams believing in themselves that they can pull off upsets and get into the knockout rounds of this competition themselves.
These Champions League duels will go down Tuesday, September 26, with all of the kickoffs taking place at 2:45 p.m. ET. The Borussia Dortmund/Real Madrid match will be televised live on FOX Sports 1, while the Spartak Moscow/Liverpool affair can be seen on FOX Sports 2.
Champions League Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
AS Monaco ( + 105 ) vs. FC Porto
Spartak Moscow ( + 375 ) vs. Liverpool
Manchester City ( - 555 ) vs. Shakhtar Donetsk
Sevilla ( - 555 ) vs. Maribor
Borussia Dortmund ( + 185 ) vs. Real Madrid
Besiktas ( + 205 ) vs. RB Leipzig
APOEL ( + 1000 ) vs. Tottenham
Napoli ( - 555 ) vs. Feyenoord
We’re going to cut right to the chase and head straight to Group H on Tuesday night. Borussia Dortmund has gotten off to a horrible start to the Champions League, losing to Tottenham 2-0 on the road. Now, it has to face the toughest team in Group H, Real Madrid at home on Tuesday. A second straight loss will almost certainly leave BVB six points adrift of safety with just four matches left to play in the group stage. Sure, the team will make up the points against APOEL on October 17 and November 1, but there’s going to be no such thing as punting points against Real and Tottenham and living to tell about it.
Home matches are absolutely crucial at this stage of the competition. You hate to say that three points is a must against Los Blancos, but at +185, opportunity is there for Dortmund to strike.
Let’s also not forget that Real Madrid is in a somewhat similar spot. Zinedine Zidane’s side still has to play against Tottenham twice. Winning this match will take all the pressure off heading into October. Even a draw is a solid result. But a loss? All of a sudden, it’ll be Tottenham who is clear by three of both of the other big boys in this absolute Group of Death.
Spurs are huge favorites on the road at APOEL and clearly can’t afford to cough anything up in that match.
Group G got off to a strange start when FC Porto was beaten at home 3-1 by Besiktas. The Turkish team now has an opportunity to shine if it can take points against RB Leipzig. If so, the path into the knockout rounds will be clear the rest of the way, while the up and coming German side is going to hope to get back on solid group after drawing at home against Monaco.
Porto’s task is incredibly tough now, as the team has to travel to Monaco needing at least a somewhat positive result to feel good about advancing.
We’re at the point that Group F should already belong to Manchester City. The Citizens are -555 favorites at home against Shakhtar Donetsk, and three points in this match will leave them three clear of the rest of the field and perhaps five clear of safety just 180 minutes into the competition.
Napoli and Feyenoord were both losers in their first efforts in Group F. Now, they get to play against each other in a match where the loser is in a boatload of trouble.
Group E featured a pair of draws two weeks ago when the Champions League was last contended. Now, Liverpool will head out to Moscow for its most important road test against Spartak. A win, and the Reds will feel good about ultimately advancing even if they don’t get any result at Sevilla. However, let’s remember the poor form they’re in at the moment. A loss will sting for a while and make a home match against Maribor in a couple weeks feel like a do-or-die proposition.
Maribor will also travel to Sevilla in what should be a squash match on Tuesday.
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