POSTED: 24 May, 2013

A Spectacular Affair?

Back to winning ways last week with the double of Arsenal and Spurs both winning, I was surprised both sides only won 1-0 considering they were fighting it out for the final Champions League spot for next season. Regardless win they did, which gave the winning double and thankfully some beer tokens to wave goodbye to the EPL for another season.

With the Champions League in mind, we don’t need any reminding that it’s the final between Dortmund and Bayern at Wembley this weekend. Looking at the game it’s safe to say why the bookies make Bayern favourites. Domestically they’ve won the league by some margin, while in Europe they were last year’s runners up and are in their 10th final of the tournament after previously lifting the famous trophy 4 times. Plus we cannot forget that smashed Barcelona 7-0 over the two-legs of the semis.

But those who write Dortmund off do so at their peril, in comparison to Bayern it may be only their second final but they did beat Juventus in their only other appearance when also underdogs. Plus their semi-final aggregate win over Real Madrid will prove they’re no back numbers. More so when you look that The FA Cup and Spanish Cup finals have seen the underdogs win, simply speaking in a one-off game anything can happen and both sides are in the final on merit.

So what’s my bet going to be? I’m staying away from picking a side to win as I just can’t call it and don’t see a ‘value’ bet either way. Although Dortmund at 5.8 is a little tempting over the 90minutes.

So looking at the stats, they played recently and fought out a 1-1 draw – and it literally was a fight in that it was a very ‘scrappy’ affair. The last three games between the two sides have all been under the goals – so is that a positive sign considering many finals are tight affairs early doors?
It may well be, but my gut feeling is there will be goals – I can’t help think both sides have too much attacking talent, hell just look at the semis when either of them scored four goals in one game against Barca and Madrid respectively.

So I’m going into the game as a neutral hoping to see a spectacle for the final, with both teams scoring and end to end action. May the best side win……as long as there are goals mind!

Pick - Champions League Final – Over 2.5 goals @ 1.75

POSTED: 24 May, 2013

Breaking even

With all the big domestic leagues in Europe coming to a close, we now have all our attention focused on Wembley Stadium. Though it is ironic that the Germans are taking centre stage, we all want to be witnesses when Borussia Dortmund face powerhouse Bayern Munich for Europe’s top prize: the Champions League trophy.

What isn’t said about Jupp Heynckes’ men? They’re a top team with star talents all over the pitch. They’re so good that Mario Gomez can afford to stay on the bench, while the Bavarians pull away with 4-0 and 5-0 wins.

They won the Bundesliga title this year, with 2nd placers Dortmund trailing by 23 big points!

And, most recently, they thrashed arguably the best team in the country, Barcelona, in the semis.

I guess that’s enough for them to stake their claim as Europe’s best. Few would argue the matter.

However, as I am going with my gut feel in the final, Borussia Dortmund have what it takes to neutralise the hulking German outfit.

Juergen Klopp has done amazing things with the squad and they seem to be able to compete even without the superstar label in the club.

As much as Bayern dismantled Barca, Dortmund eliminated Real Madrid and were kings of the famed “Group of Death” in the competition’s group stage.

Now it seems that Bayern are seeing this fact and have adjusted for next year – acquiring Dortmund’s top talents to establish their dominance in the league. But before that happens, everything points to Dortmund having a very welcome swan song by beating their rivals for the biggest trophy in Europe.

I’ve always been a fan of historic nights and if Dortmund can lift the trophy, it would be something that no one will ever forget.

Pick: Borussia Dortmund win @ 4.21

POSTED: 24 May, 2013

European success at last

Bayern Munich are on course to achieve one of the best seasons in club history. Having already won the DFL-Supercup against Borussia Dortmund in the start of the campaign, the Bundesliga club have gone on to win the league – beating out defending champions Dortmund by more than 20 points.

They are in the final of the DFB-Pokal against Stuttgart, in a match that they should easily win. More importantly, they are back in the championship battle for the UEFA Champions League.

Their opponents are all too familiar, Juergen Klopp’s men.

The 2010 and 2012 European Cup finalists are heavily favoured to finally get over the hill and win their fifth trophy in history.

And though Dortmund are a very capable squad, it is difficult to imagine that the Bavarians will let this go following the disappointing loss to Chelsea at Allianz Arena last year.

As a display of dominance, Jupp Heynckes’ men dismantled 2009 and 2011 Cup winners Barcelona with a 7-0 aggregate – something that no one would even imagine could happen to the Catalans.

If they go on to win, they will have secured four trophies in 2012-13. And with the pending move of Dortmund stars Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandowski to Munich in the summer, it appears that the German domination should be called the Munich reign.

Pick: Bayern Munich win @ 1.75

POSTED: 24 May, 2013

Final battle

It is another wonderful season and the champion league final will be the last battle. This is the first time that two German clubs meet in the finals. Both team are quite familiar with each other. They met 26 times in the past 10 years. Dortmund got 9 wins, Bayern got 10 while other 7 matches ended with draw. It’s very hard to predict who will win and there’s only one round, everything can happen.

Let’s just simply follow the trend. In the past 5 cup matches between these two teams, including German cup and German super cup, we all can see at least 1 goal in the first half. Now it is another cup match, just simply bet on over 0.75 in the first half and enjoy the match.

My pick OVER 0.75 1st half