Champions League 2015: Latest Match Odds for Round of 16 Fixtures
Current European kings Real Madrid are among the Champions League favourites who return to action this week in an exciting round of 16 schedule which is destined to separate the legitimate contenders from pretenders.
Los Blancos travel to Schalke on Wednesday, with Basel hosting dark horses Porto on the same night. Prior to this on Tuesday, Shakhtar Donetsk welcome 2013 champions Bayern Munich to Ukraine, while Chelsea make the trip across the Channel to face Paris Saint-Germain in one of the fixtures of the round.
Here, we take a look at the latest odds on offer for each match, before discussing exactly what we can expect from the opening quartet of first-leg encounters:
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| Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Bayern Munich | 9-1 | 4-1 | 2-5 |
| Paris Saint-Germain vs. Chelsea | 9-5 | 11-5 | 19-10 |
| Schalke vs. Real Madrid | 7-1 | 4-1 | 4-9 |
| Basel vs. Porto | 12-5 | 23-10 | 29-20 |
Bayern and Real's Chance to Establish Authority
Supporters of the last two continental champions, Bayern and Madrid, can look forward to confident away performances during their opening rounds. Both clubs are heavy favourites in their respective ties, represented in the latest odds provided by Oddschecker.
Indeed, B/R UK's Ryan Bailey and Matteo Bonetti also outlined these two as candidates for the crown:
Pep Guardiola's Bayern side head into their match on the back of whooping Hamburg 8-0 in the Bundesliga. Poor form after the winter break has quickly subsided with two confidence-boosting home wins, led by the likes of Arjen Robben, Thomas Muller and Mario Gotze.
Robben recently provided the official Champions League Twitter feed with his favourite tournament memory:
Bayern suffered just the one slip-up en route to the knockout stages of the competition, losing 3-2 to a Sergio Aguero-inspired Manchester City. Guardiola's men had already qualified at this point, however, meaning focus may have been elsewhere.
Shakhtar possess a handful of players who are more than capable of damaging any side in the world. Luiz Adriano is currently the tournament's top scorer on nine, per WhoScored.com, while Alex Teixeira has chipped in with three of his own. It's likely Mircea Lucescu's team will receive limited possession on their own turf, meaning they must move the ball forward to the players who can penetrate Bayern's defence.
The same can be said of Schalke, who may be trembling ahead of Real's visit. Let's not forget these two sides met at this stage last season, with Madrid posting a 6-1 win in Gelsenkirchen during the first leg. Add this to a 3-1 home victory, and the 9-2 aggregate score was one of the most one-sided in recent memory.
A certain Cristiano Ronaldo scored four across both fixtures, but Schalke may be boosted to know he isn't in particularly impressive form. The Ballon d'Or winner hasn't netted in his last three matches and appears to be growing increasingly isolated in a side who lost 4-0 to Atletico Madrid during their last away test.
Striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting believes Schalke are best suited to pinpoint all of Madrid's threats, not just CR7, reported by ESPN FC:
"We've been working hard. Madrid are not unbeatable. Everything and anything can happen and that's why football is so special. We ideally don't want to draw or lose the home game. We need to focus on all Madrid players and not just single out any one individual.
"
Even so, only the most optimistic of punters will place a large bet on Bayern or Madrid coming up short.
Big Price for Basel Home Win
While it's almost impossible to split PSG and Chelsea—both sides won their respective home fixtures during the repeated tie from last season—it may be worth looking to Basel for a high-value win.
Oddschecker.com currently provides a sweep of bets which suggest the Swiss side are slight underdogs to take victory on their own patch. Prices of 12-5 are available and overlook a side who have only been beaten at home by Real Madrid in the competition this season.
Paulo Sousa's men are well-drilled, can play expansive football and are not intimidated by any club. Granted, Porto went through the group stage unbeaten, but they were fortunate enough to have a winnable group in Shakhtar, Athletic Bilbao and BATE Borisov.
The Portuguese outfit, armed with Colombian hitman Jackson Martinez, will arrive at St. Jakob Park ready to build on their unbeaten run in the competition, though. He could prove to be the difference, as noted by The Sun's stats prior to Martinez failing to score against Vitoria de Guimaraes in Liga Sagres:
Only Chelsea outscored Porto during the group stages, but at the current price, plenty will put their faith in a Basel side who have everything in place to give themselves a decent first-leg advantage.
These four ties are destined to reintroduce the Champions League nicely, with plenty of drama likely to be in store. Bayern and Real look set to roll on, but with places up for grabs in the last eight, brave competitors such as Basel and Porto will fancy a run through the competition.
