Form has largely held in the top half of the Champions League draw, and there's little reason to believe that won't continue to be the case in the fifth match day of the group on Wednesday night. Still, this tournament rarely holds form forever, and this could be the day of wild twists and turns in these foursomes.
These Champions League duels will go down Wednesday, November 22, with all of the kickoffs taking place at 2:45 p.m. ET. The Juventus/Barcelona match will be televised live on FOX Sports 1, while the FC Basel/Manchester United affair can be seen on FOX Sports 2.
Champions League Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
CSKA Moscow ( +100 ) vs. Benfica
FK Qarabag ( +750 ) vs. Chelsea
Anderlecht ( +800 ) vs. Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid ( -125 ) vs. AS Roma
FC Basel ( +280 ) vs. Manchester United
Juventus ( +175 ) vs. Barcelona
PSG ( -1000 ) vs. Celtic
Sporting Lisbon ( -190 ) vs. Olympiakos
The top and bottom of Group A are already settled, as Manchester United will virtually certainly win the group while Benfica will almost certainly finish bottom.
However, the Portuguese side will be hoping for a miracle after four straight defeats to kick off UCL play. A win at CSKA Moscow would at least keep it alive. Moscow and FC Basel are neck and neck with each other, separated by just six goals of differential. The Russians not only need to win this match to feel good about advancing, but they might need to win it by a sizeable margin as well.
Manchester United can win this group with at least a point on Swiss soil against FC Basel.
When Neymar came to PSG late in the transfer window, this is exactly what the team hoped it was getting. The Parisians are a perfect 4-0-0 in group play in the UCL and have outscored their opponents 17-0 in the process. Bayern Munich didn't even have a shot against PSG this year, and that's saying something.
Group B will almost certainly be said and done with on Wednesday night. PSG will host Celtic while Bayern Munich travels to Anderlecht. If the chalk holds, PSG will finish first in the group while Bayern Munich will enter the knockout rounds as the second-place finisher.
Atletico Madrid is at the point of no return in Group C. The Spanish side always knew it was going to be in for a fight against AS Roma and Chelsea in this group, but the fact that it coughed up not just one, but two matches against Qarabag probably will drop it into the Europa League.
The Atleti need a win at home against AS Roma to stay alive. Chelsea will almost certainly take all three points from the Azerbaijani side, and if that's the case, it would punch its ticket into the last 16. A draw or better for Roma will seal the deal for it as well.
Group D hasn't been all that interesting in the grand scheme of things. Barcelona and Juventus have been head and shoulders better than the rest of the teams in this group, and Sporting Lisbon and Olympiakos were always in trouble.
Still, opportunity could still be there for either of the minnows of this group with a win over the other on Wednesday. Lisbon will have the edge of being at home, and a win could actually see it into second place in this group with one match day left if Barcelona goes on the road and beats Juventus.
More likely, though, would see Juve take care of business against the Catalan side and ultimately advance without much muss or fuss.
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