The Champions League returns to give us two more days of European competition and for some of the sides involved their fates are already determined. For instance, we know that Barcelona will be playing in the knockout rounds of this competition in 2017 as they’ve already qualified. We know that regardles of the result in this match, Barcelona will be a top of Group C at the end of the evening\’s action. We’re fairly sure that Manchester City will be taking second place in the group but if Borussia Mönchengladbach wants to be able to have any chance of finishing second, they’ll need to win this one comfortably and hope that Manchester City slips up at home against Celtic. More realistically, Mönchengladbach are likely to be playing in the Europa League in the New Year.
Shocks do happen, though, look at Bayern Munich in the last round. Also, we have to bear in mind that Barcelona have qualified, have been struggling recently, have had to leave players out through injury or rotation and that this is the perfect chance to give certain players a break.
I don’t expect Barcelona’s impressive front 3 of Messi, Suarez, and Neymar to all start this match. Instead, we’re more likely to see Paco Alcacer or Arda Turan get a run out in a game that has no real consequence. Iniesta may play as a way of getting minutes under his belt after his recent return from injury but I doubt he’ll be at full pelt.
Of course, Luis Enrique may see things differently and try to use this game as an “easy “ way of getting his side back on track. They’ve been out of sorts recently and after surrendering a late equalizer against Real Madrid at the weekend, perhaps Barcelona’s coach will think a morale-boosting win is more important than some “time off”.
Borussia Mönchengladbach had their own poor result at the weekend, slumping to a 4-1 defeat against Borussia Dortmund. That continued their struggles in the Bundesliga where they haven’t won since September and heaped, even more, pressure on their Head Coach André Schubert.
There is talent in this Mönchengladbach side. Eden Hazards younger brother Thorgen is there, so too is Christoph Kramer who has drawn the attention of bigger sides in seasons past. Highly rated defender Andreas Christensen is also at the club, one of many young players out on loan from Chelsea. The problem is that this side hasn’t got any momentum going and they’re currently closer to the relegation spots than they are to European involvement next season.
I’m not going to try to predict anything in the Match Odds market. The odds indicate the bookies (or the general public at least) are expecting a Barcelona win. I expect a heavily rotated side to start this game and, although I’m not putting any money on it, wouldn’t rule out an upset here.
Instead, I’m looking at the Both Teams To Score market. Mönchengladbach may not have won too many recently but they’re still scoring on a regular basis and a weakened Barcelona side could very well see them get chances.
So I’m opting for BTTS Yes and taking the 1.7 offered by Bet365 for this one.
Calculators
