Champions League
2012-08-22 - Malaga vs Panathinaikos
A Sports Betting Pick by ROzsolt
Football : Champions League play-offs
Venue: La Rosaleda, Malaga
Wednesday 22th August – Kickoff time: 21:45 GMT+2
Malaga (Spain)
Malaga finished fourth in Spain last season and will try to bring Uefa Champions League football to the Costa del Sol for the first time. It was Malaga’s best ever campaign in Spain.
This success was the result of the wealthy Qatari Sheikh Abdullah Al-Thani’s involvement in the club, but apparently he turned off the money tap and he’s trying to sell.
Last summer they spent 58 million euros on 10 new players, including Santi Cazorla, Jeremy Toulalan and Ruud van Nistelrooy, but they’ve already let Santi Cazorla go. They’ve also sold Salomon Rondon to Rubin Kaza and Dutch defender Joris Mathijsen to Feyenoord.
Malaga started the La Liga campaign with an away victory to newly promoted thanks to a late goal from sixteen-year-old Fabrice Olinga.
Panathinaikos (Greece)
Coach Jesualdo Ferreira will return to Malaga with his Panathinaikos side after a five months spell as the head coach of the Spanish side in 2010, being replaced by Manuel Pellegrini.
Panathinaikos holds a poor 3-6-14 record against Spanish opposition, but they’ve mostly played against teams with great experience in Europe like Barcelona, Valencia or Atletico Madrid.
The Greek side was always in control of the tie against Motherwell in the third qualifying round and secured an 5-0 aggregate win to qualify for the play-offs.
The Betting Verdict
Jesualdo Ferreira has good knowledge of Spanish football and that should be an important advantage for the Greeks, who’ll try to improve that poor record against Spanish opposition.
Santi Cazorla’s move to Arsenal is a big blow for Malaga, they still have quality players, but it’s difficult to find a substitute for someone like him. They’ve won against Celta Vigo over the weekend, but they are far from looking great.
The European experience should be a factor worth to consider, Panathinaikos rarely missed the group stages of either Europa League or Champions League, while Malaga will be making their debut in the UCL.
Once again I feel like the odds for the home win are too short, especially when considering that Malaga lacks European experience. Panathinaikos is solid enough to squeeze a draw here and try to secure the qualification a week later.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Malaga 1-1 Panathinaikos
Gooner’s Statistical Value Bet
Take Panathinaikos on AH +0.75 at 1.92 at PinnacleSports
Confidence: 6/10
Confidence: 6/10
