The top half of the Champions League draw in 2017-18 didn’t really provide us with much in the way of intrigue. Most of the groups featured two teams that were clearly superior and two teams that were clearly inferior, and the results mostly held form two weeks ago to start the competition. If the same thing happens on Wednesday, the rest of these matches in the group stage will ultimately be elementary, though you never know when placing first or second in a group can be the deciding factor in your fate in the Round of 16.
These Champions League duels will go down Wednesday, September 27, with all of the kickoffs taking place at 2:45 p.m. ET. The CSKA Moscow/Manchester United match will be televised live on FOX Sports 1, while the Sporting/Barcelona affair can be seen on FOX Sports 2.
Champions League Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
Qarabag ( + 600 ) vs. AS Roma
Sporting Lisbon ( + 550 ) vs. Barcelona
Juventus ( - 588 ) vs. Olympiakos
CSKA Moscow ( + 400 ) vs. Manchester United
FC Basel ( + 210 ) vs. Benfica
Atletico Madrid ( + 115 ) vs. Chelsea
PSG ( - 105 ) vs. Bayern Munich
Anderlecht ( + 100 ) vs. Celtic
The first three games listed in the betting rotation for the Champions League on Wednesday all have the ability to be runaways. There are decided favorites in all three matches, and anything less than wins from AS Roma, Juventus and Manchester United would be disasters.
That said, there’s at least a degree of intrigue in all of those duels.
Roma kicked off Group C play with a solid draw against Atletico Madrid at home. That said, the Italian side absolutely cannot punt this game to keep the pressure on the Atleti and Chelsea in Group C. Qarabag is hosting the first ever match in the group stage of the Champions League on Azerbaijani soil.
Man U’s trip to Russia could prove to be at least a bit on the tricky side. The Red Devils have been in great form this year, slaughtering teams in the Premier League left and right to sit right at the top of the table. This shouldn’t be a problem fixture, especially after winning 3-0 over FC Basel to start the UCL.
Juventus is really in a tough spot already in Group D. It was crushed 3-0 at Barcelona to start the Champions League, and now, it has to figure out how to get back on the horse. These matches against Sporting and Olympiakos to come are both should-be wins. If they are, it’ll be no harm, no foul from the Barca match. Any little slip, and the door will be open for the two minnows to plow into contention.
But let’s be honest for a second and point out the fact that Bayern Munich is playing against Paris Saint-Germain in a battle of two of the titanic teams on the planet.
PSG made a name for itself when it went on a spending spree the likes of which we’ve never seen before. The team brought in Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, two of the biggest names on the planet, in a span of just a couple weeks. Teams like Bayern Munich were shunned in the case for Mbappe, and now, the two teams have to play on the pitch together.
It’s not that there’s any sort of fear of either Anderlecht or Celtic in Group B – far from it, in fact, especially after the two big boys crushed the little guys by a combined score of 8-0 in the first round of play in this group. It’s just a matter of two of the world’s best playing against each other in what should be a duel capable of setting the tone for the matches ahead in February and beyond.
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