Champions League
2012-05-19 - Bayern Munich vs Chelsea
A Sports Betting Pick by Addicted
Football : Europe : Champions League
Saturday, May 19th, 2012, 7:45PM GMT
PREVIEW
So Chelsea's terrible turd of a Premier League season has it's first coating of glitter after they beat an even more terrible Liverpool outfit in the FA Cup final. Chelsea could really rescue things if they beat Bayern Munich. Not only would they fulfil the ambition of winning the trophy they so agonisingly missed out on a few years ago, they would gain automatic entry into the competition next year at the expense of Tottenham, who finished fourth and shall be watching this match dressed in lederhosen.
Bayern Munich too blew their domestic season, failing to win the Bundesliga, as they came in 2nd behind champions Dortmund. They have also recently been beaten in their domestic cup final, by Dortmund, so this is their only chance at a trophy. How brilliant that they get the chance to do it in their own stadium!
Both sides did well in the semi-finals, upsetting the odds and making the bookies a whole lot of money. Bayern Munich won at home and lost away to Real Madrid to deny Mourinho's excellent team a chance at European glory, while Chelsea produced two staggering displays against thebestteamever Barcelona and didn't lose either leg. I won't go into that too much here because the situation has changed as this is now a 1 match deal, not 2 legs. Also, Chelsea are the away team and Bayern are the home team, truly. That swings things in Bayerns favour. Also, there are absentees, a lot of them.
Chelsea will be without John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic, Ramires and Meireles as they are all suspended. That's a massive blow. Malouda is out, and I hear Cahill is struggling to make the game, and even though I think they will end up playing him, how fit is he? The defence immediately looks a lot more vulnerable. They will be facing Bayern in their backyard and stats show Chelsea have won just 1 game in 6 trips to Germany for European football. Not great. In contrast, Bayern Munich have only ever lost once at home against English opponents.
This is almost the same Bayern Munich side that lost in the finals 2 seasons ago to Inter Milan, and they are not going to have that happen again. Bayern are used to finals, having won 4 of the 8 they have played. They bounced back from that horrible loss to Manchester United by winning the next one they played in, beating Valencia. This season, they have been brilliant at home. Here, they beat Manchester City in a game that got attention for all the wrong reasons. In fact, Bayern won every home game in the Champions League and conceded just 6 goals! Their last home game saw they restrict Real Madrid to just 1 goal, recovering from their equaliser to go and win it late on. The attitude is spot on here.
BETTING VERDICT
I know people would love to have a magical fairytale happen but the fact is it already did, back at the Nou Camp.
22 men will chase the football around the Allianz Arena and, in the end, the Germans will win.
The Pick :
Bayern Munich
Gooner’s Statistical Value Bet
Take Bayern Munich -0.75AH @ 2.02 (Pinnacle)
