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Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Madrid, Saturday 22nd May is the location & date for this years UEFA Champions League Final with 4 teams now left & set do to battle to try & reach their ultimate dream.
Reigning Champions Barcelona, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich & Lyon are four great, prestigious names of european football & they have all totally deserved their place in the Semi Finals & now it’s all about which two teams can hold their nerves & produce the quality to push them through.

The Semi Final line-up is truly fascinating & promises to deliver great quality, intrigue, drama & excitement and all 4 sides have a realistic chance to win the prize so anything is possible from here on in.

We have had a good look at the two Semi Final 1st leg matches & here are our views on those matches & the value betting options we feel are worth consideration.

Inter Milan vs Barcelona – (Tuesday 7.45pm)

Fascinating clash of two giants of european football here as Inter Milan & Barcelona line up to do battle once again having already faced each other in this years group phase & anything really is possible.

Barcelona got the better of Inter Milan in the group phases by earning a 0-0 draw in Milan & then beating Inter Milan 2-0 at home but that is unlikely to have too much bearing here & if anything will inspire Jose Mourinho further to make sure Inter Milan do their very best to get revenge here.

Inter Milan have been fantastic in this competition since the 2nd round onwards with tremendously strong, organised & indeed quality performances to get past a strong Chelsea side & then a difficult trip against CSKA Moscow.

Jose Mourinho bases his whole reputation on being successful in the Champions League & his quest to be regarded as the ‘special one’ is built completely around winning the competition with whichever team he is in charge & indeed he was appointed by Inter Milan for this very purpose.

The challenge of facing Barcelona is indeed a fierce one but Jose Mourinho is a proven master at facing these challenges head on & winning them and for Inter Milan to earn their place in the final, that is something we feel they must do in this first leg.

Inter Milan earned excellent home victories over Chelsea & CSKA Moscow to earn their way through & given how tough it is to win in Barcelona, Inter Milan’s best chance looks to lie in winning this 1st leg & taking any sort of advantage to defend in the 2nd leg.

Tactically, there are few better managers than Jose Mourinho & he will have a well thought out plan on how to face Barcelona in this 1st leg & how that plan comes off will determine this 1st leg & probably the whole tie.

In terms of quality, then Inter Milan are very strong in all areas & certainly have the capabilities to control Barcelona’s possession, enough power & strength in midfield with Cambiasso, Muntari, Sneijder & of course they have the lethal, ex-Barcelona striker Samuel E’too who will be desperate to score against his old side.

Jose Mourinho will know Inter Milan have to perform to their best & be solid to get a result in this match but they also have to be positive and their attacking quality gives them a definite chance to get a positive result from this match & maybe even win it.

Barcelona are strong favourites for this competition again & they totally deserve that with the truly sensational Messi in the form of his life backed up by a Barcelona side over-flowing with quality in all areas.

Barcelona are flying at present with sensational victories over Arsenal & Real Madrid, and although they could only draw 0-0 at the weekend, their focus was clearly on this match & they will come into it totally confident they can get the goals & the result they need.

Barcelona really only have one style of play & they will look to score the vital away goals and win the match but they will feel any positive result is good enough to take into the 2nd leg given their extreme quality & confidence at home.

In our mind, this leg will determine the whole tie because a win for Inter Milan will give them the lead they need to take to Barcelona whereas Barcelona will look for away goals & to kill the tie off here so it really is set up to be titanic battle.

It’s a really tough call to make the clash of style between Inter Milan & Barcelona makes the game incredibly competitive & any result is entirely possible with a scoring draw very tempting but we are going to take a value punt on Inter Milan proving their strength & edging this 1st leg with E’too the man to the damage.

Betting Recommendations:

Outright Match Result: Inter Milan to win

Correct Score options: Inter Milan to win 2-0/2-1

First Goalscorer each way/Player to score anytime: E’too/Sneijder/Milito

Scorecast options: E’too/Sneijder/Milito score 1st & Inter Milan win 2-0/2-1

Double Result: Inter Milan H/T & F/T

Bayern Munich vs Lyon – (Wednesday 7.45pm)

A feast of positive, attacking football should be the order of the day in this one as both Bayern Munich & Lyon base their game on attacking & scoring goals so this should be a real cracker to watch.

Both Bayern Munich & Lyon have displayed their abundance of fantastic attacking quality play already in this competition & both will totally believe they have an excellent chance to get to the final so we expect both teams to have a real go here.

Bayern Munich have based their entire qualification through the rounds of this competition by being strong at home & winning then going away and scoring the away goals to kill off the tie & that is exactly how we expect them to approach this.

Bayern Munich’s key strength is the great pace, variety & quality they have in attack with the likes of Ribery, Robben, Gomez, Muller, Schweinsteiger & Olic all capable of creating & scoring goals and they proved their readiness for this match with a thumping 7-0 win with a hat-trick from Robben & couple each for Muller & Olic.

Team confidence with the Bayern Munich squad is sky high & we fully expect them to go for it from the kick-off and really take the game to Lyon because they do need to take goals & lead to Lyon for the 2nd leg.

Lyon will also come into this match positive & believing they can get the goals & results they need as their natural style is to attack & certainly with Lisandro Lopez back in the side they have the natural goalscoring threat to test Bayern Munich’s fragile defence.

Away goals will be the key target for Lyon & having already beaten the likes of Liverpool, Fiorentina, Bordeaux & Real Madrid they will have no fears about going to Bayern Munich & they certainly have the ability to get the result they want.

This game should be a footballing classic because both Bayern Munich & Lyon go out to play football & win matches and so it should be an open, entertaining match & one that we feel Bayern Munich will make home advantage & their overall extra attacking quality pay and get a vital lead to take to Lyon for the 2nd leg.

Betting Recommendations:

Outright Match Result: Bayern Munich to win

Correct Score options: Bayern Munich to win 2-1/3-1

First Goalscorer each way/Player to score anytime: Robben/Ollic/Muller

Scorecast options: Robben/Ollic/Muller score 1st & Bayern Munich win 2-1/3-1

Double Result: Bayern Munich H/T & F/T