UEFA Champions League Final Sports Betting Pick of the Week: 8/23
Seemingly just as it (re)began, the UEFA Champions League tournament will come to an end this Sunday, when Paris Saint Germain (PSG) will take the pitch against Bayern Munich. As they’ve been in the entirety of this final single-elimination round of games, the teams will remain in Portugal and play the final at Estadio da Luz (Stadium of Light) in Lisbon.
Unlike in games past, however, these two are now relatively close in odds, as oddsmakers and fans alike expect a fairly close match.
Let’s take a closer look at what should be a dogfight between two European powerhouses looking to take home Europe’s most elusive trophy.
All odds listed are provided by FanDuel Sportsbook.
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PSG (+220) vs. Bayern Munich (+100)
Sunday, 3:00 PM EST
PSG earned their spot by beating Leipzig, a team probably just happy to be there, by 3-0 in the semifinal. After dominating a group that contained Real Madrid, Club Brugge, and Galatasaray, PSG knocked out Borussia Dortmund and Atalanta en route to the single-elimination games.
Unfortunately, PSG won’t have midfielder Idrissa Gueye, who also missed last week’s match with a muscle injury. Layvin Kurzawa (thigh), Marco Verratti (calf), and goalkeeper Keylor Navas (hamstring) should also miss the final, which leaves some large gaps to fill for PSG.
For PSG, the €200-million man, Neymar, will have even more pressure to bring his A+ game to this one. He’ll need to overcome his recent challenges and find the back of the net against one of the world’s elite teams.
Bayern defeated their semifinal opponent in a game that was expected to at least be close. But Bayern put the world on notice in the quarters, however, when they defeated powerhouse Barcelona by a margin of six (8-2) goals.
The club was similarly dominant in group play. They scored 24 goals against the likes of Tottenham, Olympiacos, and Red Star Belgrade. The club even took care of Chelsea (7-1) and Barcelona by a combined +12 goals. With their win against Manchester City in this week’s semis, Bayern finished the post-group play with an unbelievable +15 goals against three of the world’s best clubs.
Given the injuries to PSG and Bayern’s extremely high level of play, I’m struggling to see how they’re an even proposition to win this one in regulation. While PSG’s 3-0 win over Leipzig was validating win, in a vacuum, they’re facing a different animal in this one. I think Bayern will run them off the field early and often.
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TJ Perun is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from TJ, check out his archive and follow him @JohnnyCovers.