Champions League 22nd April Betting Preview – Real Madrid V Atletico Madrid & AS Monaco V Juventus

Wednesday night sees the conclusion of this year’s Champions League quarter-finals and it should be a fantastic night as fans will be treated to two absolutely mouth-watering showdowns.

Whilst Italian champions Juventus take a slender lead to Monaco in what should be a fascinating contest, the headline fixture easily comes from the repeat of last year’s final as Real take on Atletico with the scores still tied.

Prepare yourselves for a phenomenal night of action.

Real Madrid V Atletico Madrid. 7:45PM. Sky Sports 5

A Madrid derby at the Bernabeu was always going to provide the headline fixture of these quarter-final second-leg matches and last week’s stalemate at the Vicente Calderon has left it perfectly poised as last year’s finalists bid to reach the semi-final.

Home side Real might be the favourites at home but Carlo Ancelotti’s men have really struggled against their city rivals this year, failing to win any of the previous seven meetings in 2014/15. Meanwhile, the potential of an away goal really does throw a spanner into the works, as do injuries to both Gareth Bale and Luka Modric.

Diego Simeone’s fearless Rojiblancos have a genuine chance of causing an upset here. On the other hand, Real Madrid are synonymous with European Cup football and the competition’s most successful club could be en route to becoming the first side to retain it in its current guise.

Whatever happens, it should be an absolute thriller. You wouldn’t want to miss it for the world.

Real Madrid V Atletico Madrid Betting Tips

Home advantage sees Real Madrid established as favourites with Bet365 pricing them at 4/5. Alternatively, the visitors can be backed at 18/5 whilst the draw is available at 13/5.

Atletico might hold the head-to-head advantage this term, but Real’s pedigree in this competition cannot be overestimated. Moreover, it’s worth noting that the Blancos have registered four wins and 17 goals in the four games since their scare against Schalke in the previous round.

Ancelotti’s men will be well up for this one and will want to settle the nerves with an early goal. We think the Bernabeu roar can spur them on to the last four.

HT/FT: Real Madrid/Real Madrid @ 15/8 with BetVictor

AS Monaco V Juventus. 7:45PM. Sky Sports 1

Massimiliano Allegri’s Juventus only take a slender 1-0 lead to Monaco’s Stade Louis II stadium in this all-important second leg and the Ligue 1 hosts might fancy their chances of causing another Champions League upset. However, as Dortmund found out in the last round, there is nothing harder than breaking down Italian’s with an advantage and the Old Lady should reach the last four.

Incredibly, the Italians haven’t appeared in a Champions League semi-final since 2003. This is exactly what Allegri was brought to Turin for and the experienced professionals of Gianluigi Buffon, Andrea Pirlo and Giorgio Chiellini will make things difficult for the hosts.

However, Monaco weren’t given much hope against Arsenal before stunning the Premier League giants to reach the last eight and Leonardo Jardim’s men won’t be giving up just yet. Nevertheless, it is worth noting the Gunners dominated the second-leg and if the hosts commit those same errors then the Italians will advance with ease.

Juventus are the clear favourites but if Monaco score first then it could be game on. It should be an intriguing battle.

AS Monaco V Juventus Betting Tips

In spite of conceding home advantage, Juventus are still favourites at Bet365. However, at 23/10, there is a feeling that Monaco could yet win the game even if they can’t pinch the tie. For those who fancy the draw, it can be backed at 21/10.

Juventus know that a clean sheet will see them progress and, unfortunately for Monaco, the Italians have been extremely assured at the back throughout 2014/15. In fact, the visitors have kept eight shutouts in their past nine games alone, which paints a pretty clear image of the task facing the Ligue 1 hosts

At the other end, an away goal would kill the tie so we can expect Allegri’s men to seek it. Beyond that, though, there is no need for the visitors to attack and they could quite easily slow the game down to see out the victory. Consequently, we can see this being a pretty low-scoring affair.

Under 2.0 goal line @ 41/40 with Bet365