Chelsea +1 -138 risk 1.38
Chelsea really isnt the team I expected to see opposing Barcelona, I am still having trouble picturing Manchester United or even Man City in the Europa league and a team like Chelsea who is 6th in the Premier league playing in the champions league semifinals. Chelsea has looked extremely strong lately though, just beating no.4 Tottenham 5-1 and their home record is impressive this year, they havent lost yet at Stamford bridge in 2012. Di Matteo has really brought a whole new focus and attitude to this team and since March they have been in excellent form.
I was bitching after that Bayern/Mainz draw about how soccer is being dominated by a few spanish teams and becoming like tennis with a few teams/players dominating but today showed how wrong that comment was. Bayern could have won today by two goals easy if Gomez had of hit that first wide open shot, sometimes you forget that these spanish teams are beatable and Chelsea has tons of talent with Abramovich not afraid to get out the wallet to pick up some great players.
Di Matteo has Chelsea playing great football, they are 10-1-2 in their matches since the start of March and Stamford Bridge will be a test for Barca. I was kind of curious of how the market would react to this match with Terry banged up and Luiz doubtful. This +1 line is now -144 at 5dimes just in the last 1 hour since I made my wager. I am a little worried about Barcelona midfield, they are much stronger than chelsea in midfield but when you have talent like Mata, Lampard, Drogba, Torres and Essien, you are not talking about your typical La Liga competition Barca is used to facing.
If AC Milan could hold Barca to a draw in the champions league, there is no reason a talented team like Chelsea might have a chance to pull off the same feat. It wont be easy with the way Barcelona and Messi have been playing, it will be alot different than todays game with Bayern and Madrid, barcelona and ball possession is really something to behold. Messi has never scored in any of the 6 games he has played against Chelsea and as we witnessed today, Spanish football does tend to have some defensive weaknesses.
Stamford bridge is a strange layout for opposing teams and Barcelona has complained about the pitch at stamford bridge in the past, the pitch was a big factor in the AC milan draw with Barca. Messi is my favorite player in the world and I hate betting against him and this really isnt like the Lahm/Ronaldo matchup. I just hope Chelsea can find some weakness here in that Barcelona defense.
Olympiakos -.5,-1 -110 risk 1.10
Paok -1 -162 risk 1.62