The last two matches of the Champions League round of 16 are being played, and then the return legs follow. A few more important matches are being played, which is enough to make a betting slip. The odds were valid at the time of making the suggestions.
Napoli – Barcelona – Napoli Not To Lose And Total < 2.5 @ 2.86 at 22Bet
At Napoli, things have reached a critical point, and they have resorted to shock therapy ahead of the most important match of the season so far. Instead of coach Walter Mazzarri, Francesco Calzona, the former coach of the Slovak national team, has been appointed. Mazzarri’s fate was sealed by the draw with Genoa on Saturday, but it seems that the decision was made much earlier. The problem for Calzona is that his debut will be against Barcelona in the Champions League round of 16, which is, by all accounts, the most important match for Napoli since the start of the season. Indeed, they have long said goodbye to the Scudetto, were also eliminated from the domestic cup, so the Champions League remains their only chance to achieve something big this season. We don’t believe they are thinking about the European champion title, but reaching the quarterfinals would be a great success. Barcelona is not in their best form either. They did win a tough away game in Vigo over the weekend, but they have almost said goodbye to the La Liga title. Real Madrid is eight points ahead, which is too much for a team like Madrid. This will be one of the more uncertain ties in this phase of the competition, nothing will be decided after the first match, and we don’t expect a goal fest. In addition, we believe that the shock therapy will yield results for the team from southern Italy and that Napoli will not lose the first match.
Another thing, this is a clash of two teams in which Diego Maradona played brilliantly, the footballer after whom the stadium in Naples was named following his death. For Napoli Not To Lose And Total < 2.5 Goals the odds are 2.86 at 22Bet.
Gent – Maccabi Haifa – Gent to Win @ 1.87 at 22Bet
One round of 16 return match in the Conference League is being played tonight. Gent is hosting the team from Maccabi Haifa and will try to make up for the one-goal deficit they have after the first 90 minutes played on neutral ground in Budapest. That loss came as a culmination of the catastrophic form of this Belgian team, as they had six consecutive matches without a win before it, with only one draw and 5 losses. During that interval, they were knocked out of the domestic cup by Club Brugge, lost in the Jupiler League to Mechelen, Anderlecht, Sint-Truiden, and Cercle Brugge, and only managed a draw against Westerlo. They achieved their first league win in 2024 last weekend away at Eupen. In the remaining four rounds before the playoffs start, they will fiercely fight to maintain their place in the playoff zone. Maccabi Haifa is in excellent form and managed to make up the advantage of their namesake from Tel Aviv in the Israeli league. They achieved this with two wins in a short time interval against their biggest rival and are once again the most serious candidate for the title. In the first match against Gent, they were a bit lucky; the Belgians were better, but one ball ended up in their net. Gent has already had an unpleasant experience against an Israeli club in the group, finishing second behind Maccabi Tel Aviv, while the team from Haifa is in this phase because they were third in their Europa League group.
We expect Gent to Win but are not convinced that the Belgians will advance. The odds for a win at 22Bet are 1.87.
Panathinaikos – PAOK – Both Teams to Score @ 1.88 at 22Bet
In the most crucial part of the season, Thessaloniki’s PAOK started to falter. They were playing excellently, seen as the potential winners of the domestic double in the league, and after securing direct qualification to the round of 16 in the Conference League, they were also considered one of the favorites in that competition. Everything started to go wrong after a league draw with AEK, followed by a defeat in the first leg of the cup semifinal against Panathinaikos at Toumba, and then a more disheartening, convincing loss to Olympiacos in Thessaloniki last weekend. Now, they have relinquished the top spot in the league to the current champions AEK, are close to elimination in the cup, and we’ll see who they get drawn against in Europe. Everything can still be corrected; we’ll see if they can retaliate against Panathinaikos in Athens for the defeat in the first match seven days ago. The Greens also had their off day over the weekend; they failed to beat Lamia at home, missing the chance to take the top spot. For them, Europe is a closed chapter this season, having finished last in their Europa League group, and now they are fully focused on domestic competitions. At the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium, we expect an open match, PAOK has nothing to lose, and Pao is not known for their defensive play. Therefore, our suggestion is to bet on both teams to score, for which the odds at 22Bet are 1.85.
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