Leans:
1255 Lille Granada
15 Red Star Slavia Praha Young Boys
Lille has to score twice which will force them to play more offensively, which I don’t love since they’re dogged but closed a small favorite in 1st leg. Wonder if Ajax plays a little more defensively since a draw gets them through, which means 0.25 wins half
Granada defense issues, but have a commanding lead and Napoli has been poor. Granada midfield is really deep, rested people on the weekend and I’m not sure Napoli advances, which would require 2-0 at least to hit extra time. Napoli throwing everything forward to get that 2nd goal as the game gets later means more chances for us to score on the counter and turn the push on +1 into a draw to win our wager
Red Star is a reference to ACM in a tough spot with all the injuries and off the Milan derby blowout loss. May see them perform better, but also got two road goals so a draw pretty much puts them through. Worry about the late goal as Red Star pushes forward to equalize if behind and also that there’s a yuge gap in talent between these two teams, but the late goal to salvage a draw last week gives me some hope
Slavia Praha goalless first time with LCFC means if they score then LCFC needs to win. Push on a single goal loss, think CZE is a good side in the Euros and a lot of their guys play for this team (though they lost Soucek and Coufal to WHU). Watched some of their group stage matches and thought they were better than Nice, so definitely inferior but not sure that much. LCFC pretty inconsistent, not sure what type of lineup they use but ARS this weekend makes me wonder if they have their eyes on that one as it should be a test
YB is a play against Leverkusen, though I am very afraid of the YB defense. Will check if Hradecky is back in net, if you didn’t see the goal the backup gave up last weekend google it! Honestly it’s hilarious, he surely isn’t feeling good about it and the team has been struggling with injuries. Diaby should be playing since he’s suspended this weekend, but got a full goal of insurance and Leverkusen have the away goals advantage so they may shut up shop more than normal when ahead by a goal. Definitely terrifying if they get on a break late as I’ve already felt that pain this season in the worst way