Lyon welcome the visitors Barcelona in the Champions League Play-offs – 1/8 Finals. The match will be held on Tuesday, February, 19th, at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais (Lyon).
This season’s Lyon clearly specialize on heavyweights! They are the only side that managed to win Paris Saint-Germain in the Ligue 1. The clash was held recently – on February, 3rd, Lyon registered a 2:1 victory over the Paris outfit. Some may say PSG are no longer motivated in the championship run, and so on, but the fact remains that Lyon surpassed PSG two weeks ago. This win makes no sense indeed compared to Lyon’s performance against Manchester City – they were never defeated by the ‘Citizens’ in this season, drawing at home, 2:2, and winning away, 2:1. That was Lyon’s solitude victory in the Champions League group stage in this campaign though. This is a unique case – the team registered only one win and five draws, suffering no loss, which was enough to advance to the next stage. Lyon have no squad issues ahead of their meeting with Barcelona – there are no serious losses, all key players are ready to fight against the rampant Catalans. The present Lyon are really capable of delivering a battle to Barcelona, and they will do so in the coming clash.
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As far as the visitors are concerned, their form is not blistering. It looks like Barca players are a bit worried because Real Madrid have suddenly revived and now find themselves yet on the second place in the standings, just six points behind them (after sitting somewhere in the middle of the table throughout the season). The last three Barcelona’s matches were drawing. The Copa del Rey meeting with the ‘Royals’ ended level, 1:1; two other draws were registered in the league clashes versus Athletic Bilbao and Valencia. So, Barcelona’s run seems unconfident. Given Lyon’s warrior spirit this season, the visitors are not seen as clear favorites in the first leg. The Catalans’ assertive win is not expected, and it won’t be a surprise if the hosts demonstrate another quality play and don’t lose under their fans’ support.
We’re betting on Lyon with a +1.5 handicap. It’s very unlikely that the guests will be ahead by more than one goal. Lyon will most probably score, as Barca’s defense is not very secure, and the guests will score back two goals at most. So, the suggested bet looks quite safe.
Prediction for the match: Lyon to win with a +1.5 handicap.
