The Champions League continues on Wednesday with Bayern Munich aiming to bounce back from an indifferent domestic performance on Saturday when they travel to face Basel, while Marseille and Inter Milan clash in France for what should be the tighter of the two first-leg round of 16 ties.
FC Basel v Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich head into Wednesday’s round of 16 first-leg clash with Basel following a desperate performance against Freiburg on Saturday. The German giants ambled to 0-0 stalemate away to the Bundesliga’s bottom side. The result sees them slip to third and lose ground on pace-setters Borussia Dortmund but they are well-fancied to bounce back from the setback and 4/7 to return home from Switzerland with a victory.
Director of sport Christian Nerlinger described Saturday’s match as a “sobering experience” and it would be unwise to back against the players getting their season back on track at the expense of the Swiss champions.
But Basel will head into the match in confident mood and have within their ranks a potent attacking weapon. Alexander Frei tormented Bundesliga defences for three years with previous club Borussia Dortmund, and has netted five times already in the Champions League this season. At 15/8 the 32-year-old is good value to add to his tally and score any time during his re-acquaintance with old rivals.
The transfer of Xherdan Shaqiri from Basel to Bayern, effective from this summer, adds extra interest to this tie and, at 11/4 to score any time for Basel, the Kosovan-born Swiss international is worth consideration.
Marseille v Inter Milan
Elsewhere, Marseille’s home stalemate against Valenciennes on Saturday suggests they are not quite hitting their straps ahead of Wednesday’s clash with Inter Milan. The French outfit are 12 points adrift of pace-setters Paris Saint Germain in Ligue 1 and they scraped through to the knock-out stages of the Champions League, winning just one of their three home ties in Group F.
But in truth there is little between these two sides. Inter Milan’s 3-0 home defeat to Bologna on Friday re-affirmed their domestic shortcomings this term and, following their elimination from the Coppa Italia, the Champions League represents manager Claudio Ranieri’s last hope of delivering a trophy this season.
Marseille’s come-from-behind victory away at Borussia Dortmund sent them through to the last 16 and added momentum to their European campaign, while Inter Milan were undefeated away from home as they qualified for the last 16 as winners of Group B. Inter will prove difficult to beat, though Marseille’s home form in domestic competition has been good, with just one defeat in 13 and only eight goals conceded.
With this in mind, the draw at 9/4 looks good value, as does the 0-0 correct score selection at 11/2.
Andre Ayew and Loic Remy have netted twice in the Champions League for Marseille, though top domestic scorer Remy misses this clash with a hamstring injury. For Inter, Argentine marksmen Diego Milito is the danger-man, although he has found it difficult to replicate his domestic goal-scoring form in Europe, netting just once.
With this in mind, those who expect to see goals tomorrow evening might consider Marseille’s Ayew, who is not bad value at 11/2 to net first on Wednesday.
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