Champions League picks and best bets | Tuesday, March 12

It’s officially the second leg of the quarterfinals and there could be some great teams heading home. Both Bayern and Chelsea will have to overcome first leg defeats if they want any chance of advancing further in this tournament. The Champions League is the most prestigious tournament in club soccer, and the excitement is palpable. With two intriguing games on tap for this Tuesday, here is a pick for each of them.

Chelsea FC at Real Madrid

Madrid was able to defeat Chelsea 3-1 in the first leg on the back of another world class performance from striker Karim Benzema. He was able to bag all three goals and continue his amazing form. He will be a handful for Chelsea, but Chelsea has some guys who can stop him. Ngolo Kante, Chelsea’s star defensive midfielder, will be the key for Chelsea in this matchup if they want any chance of advancing. This line is not giving Chelsea enough credit, and they should have a better game plan this time out.

Chelsea will be away in this game but will have more motivation than Real. Madrid has a two goal lead so part of their strategy will be playing cautious and soaking in pressure. This will allow Chelsea some more space in the midfield and could lead to them keeping this game close. A boring draw is very possible in this spot, so take this line and hope Chelsea will have more answers than last game for Benzema in this second leg.

Villarreal CF at Bayern Munchen

The first leg of this game was one of the shockers of the soccer tournament. In that game, Villarreal was the better team and won 1-0. You could even make the argument they deserved to win by more. It was a true stunner and a rare Bayern performance where they looked lost. It may be crazy to go back to Bayern in this match but they have the history to show that their last performance against Villarreal was just a fluke. At home, Bayern should overturn the deficit and win this game by multiple goals.

Bayern, despite the last game, is still one of the best teams in the world. While they didn’t look like it in the first leg, Bayern has way more talent than Villarreal. It would truly be shocking if they come out flat again and they should be able to settle into this game in front of their home crowd. Top to bottom, Bayern has an advantage and if they are cooking, this game could get ugly. Villarreal has had a great run in this year’s Champions League but it should come to an end here. They will definitely sit back and try to defend their one goal lead, but that just plays into Bayern’s hands. Although last game didn’t look great for Bayern, expect a bounce back performance where they re-establish themselves as one of the best clubs in the world.

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