Champions League: Best bets for Barcelona-Bayern, Chelsea and Tuesday’s group stage matches
5 min read
The UEFA Champions League group stage kicks off with the opening slate of 16 matches from Tuesday, Sept. 14 to Wednesday, Sep. 15.
The Tuesday slate includes an eye-catching Barcelona vs. Bayern Munich matchup, with Manchester United, Chelsea and Juventus also in action.
Below are best bets for each of Tuesday’s matches. Odds courtesy of DraftKings:
Group F: Young Boys (SUI) vs. Manchester United (ENG)
- Time/TV/Stream: 12:45 p.m. ET (TV & streaming)
- Stadium: Wankdorf Stadium (Bern, Switzerland)
- Weather: 71 degrees, cloudy
Given the current odds for goal scoring (Both Teams To Score) and goal totals in this match — everyone is expecting a goal fest in Switzerland, where Young Boys home matches have featured an average of 3.4 goals per game — the -120 for Manchester United’s -1.25 Asian Handicap is decent value, providing some cover in case of a narrow one-goal Man United win. There’s a significant talent gap here and Manchester United will want to make a statement of intent vs. Young Boys that the Red Devils are contenders for the trophy this year.
Group G: Sevilla (ESP) vs. RB Salzburg (AUT)
- Time/TV/Stream: 12:45 p.m. ET (TV & streaming)
- Stadium: Estadio Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan (Seville, Spain)
- Weather: 71 degrees, scattered thunderstorms
Reaching the Champions League group stage was RB Salzburg’s biggest victory despite losing key players to offseason transfers. Everything from here on out is gravy for the Austrian club: It’s a talented, aggressive, attack-minded team that will play with nothing to lose and should get its looks against Sevilla. The Spanish side has the better squad and also gets winger Lucas Ocampo back after an injury layoff. Sevilla manager Julien Lopetegui has a full squad at his disposal and although the home team should win, RB Salzburg is yet to be shut out this year and should be capable of getting a road goal.
Group E: Barcelona (ESP) vs. Bayern Munich (GER)
- Time/TV/Stream: 3 p.m. ET (TV & streaming)
- Stadium: Camp Nou (Barcelona, Spain)
- Weather: 82 degrees, cloudy
Bayern is the consensus pick to win against a Messi-less Barcelona team that is a shadow of its former self. It’s a slight surprise that plus-money is still available for Bayern. After the latest injury to regular Barcelona forward Martin Braithwaite, who joins Sergio Aguero, Ansu Fati and Ousmane Dembele in the infirmary, the only thing Barca has going for it is that it didn’t play this weekend after its La Liga match was postponed. The only real question in this one is how many goals Bayern will score against a Barcelona team that has conceded in all three of its La Liga matches. The German side beat Lionel Messi and Barcelona 8-2 in this competition in August 2020 and Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski always finds a way to score against Barca. The safer play was a parlay of Bayern to win or draw, plus over 2.5 total goals in the match but that moved from -120 to -150, making it unplayable.
Group E: Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) vs. Benfica (POR)
- Time/TV/Stream: 3 p.m. ET (TV & streaming)
- Stadium: Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex (Kiev, Ukraine)
- Weather: 60 degrees, cloudy
Benfica started the Portuguese league with five straight wins and continues to improve from week to week. As it showed during Champions League qualifying against Spartak Moscow and PSV Eindhoven, it’s a team that is comfortable defending and managing games, conceding only three goals in nine matches. Another efficient performance is expected in Kiev despite the absence of center back Lucas Verissimo (suspension). Dynamo Kiev, which sits in first place in the Ukrainian Premier League (6-0-1 record), will look to frustrate the skillful Benfica attack, ensuring the game will be a close affair. The -0.25 Asian Handicap offers plus money and buys some insurance in case of a draw (half the bet is a push if the teams tie).
Group F: Villarreal (ESP) vs. Atalanta (ITA)
- Time/TV/Stream: 3 p.m. ET (TV & streaming)
- Stadium: Estadio de la Cerámica (Villarreal, Spain)
- Weather: 80 degrees, cloudy
The Under 2.75 Asian Total Goals was the ideal play on this game, but it’s now at -135 after sitting at +105 earlier this week. A low-scoring match is clearly the expectation with Villarreal manager Unai Emery proving so adept at devising tactical plans that frustrate stronger opponents and he’s had two full weeks to prepare for Villarreal’s return to the Champions League after 10 seasons. Atalanta has had a tough start to its season and although it will see Marten de Roon make his season debut in midfield, the absence of injured forward Luis Muriel will be felt. This is a big occasion for Villarreal and Emery will not want to disappoint. The Villarreal Asian Handicap pick’em is essentially a draw-no-bet play with better odds (-120 vs. -130).
Group G: LOSC Lille (FRA) vs. Wolfsburg (GER)
- Time/TV/Stream: 3 p.m. ET (TV & streaming)
- Stadium: Stade Pierre Mauroy (Lille, France)
- Weather: 70 degrees, cloudy, light rain
Many are down on Lille’s chances in this group after it lost its head coach and a couple of starters from last year’s surprising Ligue 1 championship run. They’re leaking goals and sinking in the Ligue 1 standings (12th place). But Lille is still very talented, with speedy forwards who can cause Wolfsburg issues, and now the club can give up on the Ligue 1 title race and place its sole focus on obtaining results in the lucrative Champions League. Wolfsburg has won its first four Bundesliga matches, but three of them came against inferior opponents currently sitting in the bottom six. A Lille pick’em bet equates to a draw no bet.
Group H: Malmo FF (SWE) vs. Juventus (ITA)
- Time/TV/Stream: 3 p.m. ET (TV & streaming)
- Stadium: Malmo New Stadium (Malmo, Sweden)
- Weather: 60 degrees, clear
After the 2-1 loss to Napoli over the weekend, Juventus enters the match with a point to prove. Although it will be without its most influential player (Federico Chiesa), all the South American players will be available to play after missing out against Napoli following their travel from the September World Cup qualifiers. Malmo FF, 1-2-2 in its last five Swedish league matches, will be forced to bear the brunt of the Juve bounceback.
Group H: Chelsea (ENG) vs. Zenit St. Petersburg (RUS)
- Time/TV/Stream: 3 p.m. ET (TV & streaming)
- Stadium: Stamford Bridge (London, England)
- Weather: 64 degrees, rain
Even without Christian Pulisic and N’Golo Kante, the expectation is that the defending champs open their title defense with a tidy win. Provided the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Mason Mount are not rested ahead of this weekend’s Tottenham match, the “Chelsea -2 Asian handicap” is interestingly priced at +110. Zenit is the top team in Russia, but it has only two shutouts in eight official matches. While its attacking talent could prove good enough to score against Chelsea, Zenit’s defense will not be a match for the English giant.
