19th Feb 2013 | Football
Milan v Barcelona Tip
The Italians were goal-shy in the group stages at home and will miss Balotelli against the mighty Spaniards.
As always, some finesse is required to find value when betting on the most celebrated team in world football. Barcelona are just 11/20 (BetVictor) to win at the San Siro and Messi is a frightening best price of 4/7 (StanJames) to score. Instead, I would favour the option of the Champions League favourites to win with a clean sheet at best odds of 2/1 with Ladbrokes.
The reasons for this have plenty to do with the limitations of a Milan side who are still rebuilding, improved by domestic standards, but not yet ready to face the creme de la creme of Europe.
The Rossoneri qualified to this point with a pretty mediocre 8 points from the six matches before Christmas. The results at home were particularly poor where they failed to beat Anderlecht (0-0), Malaga (1-1) or Zenit St Petersburg (0-1). They have now scored only once in four Champions League outings at the San Siro.
In Serie A they have found new salvation in the form of one Mario Balotelli who has scored four times in three appearances since his high-profile arrival from Manchester City on transfer deadline-day. But the ‘enfant terrible’ is cup-tied for this competition so it’s incredibly difficult to see where the goals are coming from for the hosts.
Barcelona pretty much always score and if they just keep their concentration then we should be on to a winner at competitive odds on Wednesday.
Odds correct at time of publishing: 19:52 19th Feb, 2013 but subject to change
