After last night's 8 games, Champions League Groups A to D are done and dusted. There are 8 more games tonight - that'll make up the 16 teams that will be in the hat for the draw for the Knockout Stages next Friday...
With some teams already qualified - and some already out - match results were tricky to predict last night.
Avoid 'shock results' - cash-in on the stats
Take Barcelona for example...
Already safe in 1st place in Group C, the Spanish giants rested 8 first team players for their home game against Shakhtar Donetsk - who were themselves destined to finish 3rd in the Group, whatever the result. Shakhtar won the game 3-2 (a shock outcome that traded at 50/1 before kick off!).
While the match results are hard to call in 'dead' games like that one, the stats markets can still pinpoint winners - last night the stats highlighted the high number of Cards and Bookings Points in Shakhtar's away games, and we made a profit on that game by backing 'Over 2 Cards' (there were 7 cards in the end). See below for the full results.
The 4 teams 'with nothing to play for' tonight...
Tonight's games feature teams from Groups E to H. In each case, the top 2 sides are already decided - but those teams will be battling it out to come top of their Group. If you come 1st, you get a 'favourable' tie in the next round, against a team that finished 2nd. Group winners also get to play the home leg of their Knockout tie second - again, there's an implied advantage there.
There are a few teams to watch out for tonight - these 4 have little to play for other than pride...
In Group E, Aalborg are guaranteed to finish in 3rd place and claim the consolation prize of UEFA Cup qualification, whatever happens. They are away to Champions League holders Man Utd. Celtic are destined to finish last in the Group table, whether they win, lose or draw againt Villarreal. Both Man Utd and Villarreal will be chasing a win to try and come top of the table.
In Group H, Zenit St Petersburg are confirmed in 3rd place - they're away to 2nd place Real Madrid tonight. BATE Borisov are bottom of the Group and can't finish any higher. They travel to table-toppers Juventus. Real Madrid need a win to have a chance of winning the Group and Juventus need to win to stay top.
Last night's results
I've included the full results of our 'recommended bets' from last night below. And I'll be writing to you again this afternoon with all the info you need to select the best bets from tonight's games.
You can also view all the match stats for every game on the Live Scoreboard at our website. For the full details of how many Goals, Corners and Bookings each team got last night, head to:
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You can also view all our Champions League Profit Service emails at the website. You'll find them on the 'Archive' page - just click on 'Current Season Emails'. If you ever miss out on an email, you can go online and find it there.
Here's how the bets went in yesterday's email...
Chelsea 2 Cluj 1
Recommended Bet:
- Chelsea 'To With With A Clean Sheet' @ 4/5 - LOST
Chelsea got the win - but conceded their first home Champions League goal this season.
Barcelona 2 Shakhtar Donetsk 3
Total Cards = 7
Total Bookings Points = 70
Total Corners = 10
Recommended Bets:
· 'Asian Total Cards - Over 2' @ 3/4 - WON
· 'Under 10 Corners' @ Evens and a saver bet on 'Exactly 10 Corners' @ 15/2 - (saver bet won)
Shakhtar went card crazy in the last 5 minutes of this game, picking up 5 yellow cards. They got 6 in total, with the first one going to Barcelona.
There were exactly 10 corners, so you would have made your money back on the 'Under 10' bet by backing the saver bet at 15/2.
Roma 2 Bordeaux 0
Recommended Bet:
- 'Over 2.5 Goals' @ Evens - LOST
Before last night, all 4 home / away games played by Roma and Bordeaux had gone 'Over 2.5 Goals'. We were just 1 goal short of the result we needed here.
That's all for this morning. I'll email you again just after 2pm with our recommendations for tonight's games...
Best wishes,
Matt Nesbitt
Champions League Service
www.ChampionsLeagueBet.co.uk
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