5 Bold Predictions for 2014/15 Champions League Matchday 2
Matchday 1 of this season’s Champions League delivered the expected amount of thrills and spills, but what will Matchday 2 serve up?
Highlights include Manchester City’s meeting with Roma at the Etihad Stadium, Barcelona’s trip to Paris to play PSG and the meeting of the Spanish and Italian champions as Atletico Madrid face Juventus.
Here are some bold predictions for just what we could see.
Roma Will Beat Manchester City at the Etihad
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Discount last week’s stroll against second-tier Sheffield Wednesday in the Capital One Cup, and City have failed to keep a clean sheet since they won 2-0 at Newcastle in their first match of the Premier League season.
Contrast that with Roma, who have shut out the opposition in four of their five Serie A games this season. The Italian outfit have won all six of their matches in all competitions, shipping just two goals along the way.
Ashley Cole and company have quickly jelled to form one of the meanest defences across the continent at the moment, and one that City will have tough work trying to break down whilst also seeking to blunt an attack which scored five goals in their Matchday 1 victory over CSKA Moscow.
The last-gasp defeat that City suffered in Munich could prove to be so crucial given the likely tightness of this group, and on a night when nerves will be frayed at the Etihad, they could come unstuck.
Ibrahimovic's Absence Won't Stop PSG from Taking Something from Barcelona
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Seven opposition teams have tried and seven opposition teams have failed to score against Barcelona this season, but Paris Saint-Germain can become the first even without the injured Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Of course they would have been much more dangerous if they had the former Barca man in their ranks for the meeting at the Parc de Princes, but even without him they maintain the goalscoring threats of the likes of Edinson Cavani and the young forward Jean-Christophe Bahebeck.
Put simply, they should at least score once, so how will Barca's attack fare against an expensive defence when they have that added pressure thrust upon them?
Juventus Will Win at Atletico Madrid
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Like Roma, Juventus have made a perfect start to their Serie A season.
What's more, they’ve managed to do so without conceding a goal either in domestic action or in the Champions League, where two Carlos Tevez goals beat Malmo at home last time out.
A 3-2 defeat at Olympiakos has really heaped pressure on Atletico Madrid on their return to the Champions League, and the Vicente Calderon is likely to be a nervy place come kick-off on Wednesday night.
Keep things tight at the back as they have done all season and Juve will have a great chance to put six points between them and Atletico—a crucial advantage at this early stage in Group A.
Real Madrid Will Come Close to Repeating Last Season’s 6-1 Scorelines
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Twice on their run to success in the Lisbon final last season Real Madrid won 6-1 away from home—once against Galatasaray in the group stages and then again at Schalke in the second round.
Bulgarian side Ludogorets Razgrad showed that they are no pushovers in their extremely unlucky defeat to Liverpool at Anfield on Group B’s Matchday 1. However, with Real in staggering goalscoring form, the omens look bad for the minnows.
The Spanish side have scored 20 times in their last four games, including five against Basel on Matchday 1, whilst having also managed 20 goals in last season’s six Champions League away games.
Cristiano Ronaldo alone is on a run of 10 goals in his last five, and so all the numbers add up to what could be an extremely difficult night for a home side who aren’t likely to forget their first ever home game in the Champions League proper in a hurry.
Galatasaray Will Take Something from the Emirates
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According to the BBC, Arsene Wenger has already ruled both Mikel Arteta and Aaron Ramsey out of Wednesday’s home clash with Galatasaray after the duo picked up injuries against Tottenham.
As a result, the London club will be a little short in midfield for the visit of the Turkish side.
Arsenal just edged past Besiktas in the playoff round, dropped points in at least one of their Champions League group games in each of the last three seasons and are currently on a run of just two wins in their last nine games in all competitions. Therefore, there could be some nervousness around the Emirates.
Galatasaray’s European away record isn’t good, but they did manage a 2-2 draw in the group stages at Juventus last season and will put up a brave fight in London, where a draw isn’t out of the question.
