Manchester Humbled

It was a surprisingly poor night for Manchester’s finest as City and United were embarrassed to varying degrees. The Carlos Tevez affair grabbed all the headlines but the 2-0 defeat to Bayern on the pitch saw Mancini’s bickering side pushed out to 5/4 shots to qualify from Group A, according to Ladbrokes.

However, there is still plenty of time for a reversal of fortunes and perhaps City will go from strength to strength if they get rid of the proverbial ‘bad apple.’ If you fancy a punt on the Champions League debutants going all the way, City are now a best price of 16/1 with PaddyPower to win the whole competition.

Meanwhile, at Old Trafford it all appeared to be service as usual when last year’s finalists raced into an early two goal lead. But Basel remarkably launched a stirring comeback to lead 2-3 with moments remaining, before Ashley Young popped up to save United’s blushes. That goal may prove to be crucial with Ferguson’s side still 1/12 shots to progress with Skybet; that despite failing to win either of their games so far. The Red Devils are 15/2 to lift the trophy next May, again with PaddyPower.

On Wednesday, attention turns to London’s participants. Arsenal are 1/2 with Bet365 to beat Olympiakos, with the Greek outfit 7/1 with Boylesports to win in England for the very first time. The draw is 7/2 with totesport. Chelsea should face a sterner test as they head to Spain. A Valencia triumph is 2/1 with Ladbrokes, although the Blues remain marginal favourites at 8/5 with VictorChandler.