Bayern Munich blew the chance to be in with a shout for top spot in Group D when they lost unexpectedly against FK Rostov. Atletico Madrid kept up their 100% Champions League record this season with a win against PSV and are now sitting pretty at the top with 15 points and a game to go.
FK Rostov in 3rd can’t catch Bayern Munich and Munich can’t catch Atletico Madrid so this one does have the whiff of a dead rubber about it.
Perhaps both sides will put out strong teams for this one. Munich could certainly do with a good win to shake off the memory of that loss against Rostov. Atletico Madrid may be thinking that winning all of their group games could make a real statement as they go into the New Year and the knockout rounds.
Both sides put out strong teams in their weekend fixtures and that does lead me to think they will be rotating their teams in midweek as they look to the long season ahead. If that does happen then I think Bayern have the edge as their squad depth looks more impressive than Atletico’s.
That being said I’m not impressed by the odds on offer at green listed bookmakers for a home win here, and although I’m tempted to put a bit of money on the draw (the likely result in my eyes) I’m much more interested in working in the Both Teams To Score market.
At 1.95 with Bet365 for “Yes” I think there is some value available to us here. Even with rotated sides there should be chances for both teams and each has a good goal scoring history so this one looks a real goer to me.
This season could be Diego Simeone’s last at Atletico Madrid as he’s agreed to shorten his contract and there will be a couple of vacancies at well-established clubs in the summer (Arsenal anyone?). I’m sure he’d love to bow out with a Champions League title having come so close on 2 previous occasions.
Carlo Ancelotti has his own history in this competition and certainly has a good squad as he eyes another Champions League win. I get the feeling he may not be looking to build a dynasty at Bayern so his time there may very well be short and he’ll need to strike while he has the chance.
Both of these sides should progress into the later stages of this competition and both have a chance of winning it. Perhaps we’re seeing a precursor of the eventual final in this match but even if that is the case, we probably won’t learn a lot about these 2 sides from this game due to squad rotations.
If these two meet again in this competition after this game, then we should see a really exciting match up.
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