The new Champions League play-off round first legs take place this week, with four games taking place on Wednesday.
The early kick off sees last year’s Europa League winners Atalanta visit Club Brugge, while later on Celtic are the only team from these shores in action as they host Bayern Munich.
In the two other later games Monaco take on Benfica, while Feyenoord come up against AC Milan.
Here we have picked out the best bets from an action-packed card.
- ATALANTA TO WIN
- BAYERN MUNICH TO WIN AND BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE VS CELTIC
- AC MILAN TO WIN
- BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE AND OVER 2.5 GOALS IN MONACO VS BENFICA
Club Brugge vs Atalanta
Atalanta suffered disappointment as they missed out on an automatic spot in the last 16 of the Champions League following a 2-2 draw with Barcelona in the final group stage game.
That allowed Aston Villa to overtake them with a win and now the Europa League champions from last season must face Club Brugge in the play-off round.
The Belgians were the lowest scorers to make it through to the knockout stages, netting just seven times in their eight games.
They gave Manchester City a fright in their final group match but were ultimately seen off 3-1 by Pep Guardiola’s side.
Their reward for squeezing through is a clash with this Atalanta outfit, who are just five points off top spot in Serie A and who only lost one of their eight group games, finishing with an aggregate score of 20-6.
The visitors’ only loss came against Real Madrid and they held Barcelona and Arsenal to draws during the league phase.
A replication of anything near that level of form should be more than enough to see the Italians secure a first-leg victory in this clash.
ATALANTA TO WIN
Celtic vs Bayern Munich
Celtic have reached the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time in 12 years, but their reward for achieving that is a draw against Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.
The Bhoys have been dominant domestically, they are strong favourites to lift the treble after winning the Scottish League Cup, sitting 13 points clear at the top of the table and with rivals Rangers being ditched out of the Scottish Cup at the weekend.
However it has been in Europe where the Hoops have struggled in recent years and this season’s campaign has been a welcome improvement on their continental fortunes.
Aside from a 7-1 mauling at the hands of Borussia Dortmund, Brendan Rodgers’ men have acquitted themselves well in this tournament, beating RB Leipzig and Young Boys along with draws against Atalanta and Club Brugge.
Bayern are a significant step up on most of those opponents however and will make this hard work for the hosts.
After shock defeats to Villa and Barcelona, Vincent Kompany’s side recovered to win four of their last five games, beating PSG and Benfica in that spell.
Four of the Bavarians’ last six games in all competitions have seen them win and both teams score and a repeat of that looks likely in this match.
The home side have been boosted by their successful appeal against Daizen Maeda’s red card, meaning that he will be eligible to play after netting a hat-trick against Raith at the weekend.
The visitors only managed two clean sheets in the group games and the Bhoys are fancied to get on the scoresheet in this clash.
However, their defence may not be cut out to cope with Bayern’s attack, who put a record nine goals past Dinamo Zagreb.
With the likes of Harry Kane, Jamal Musiala and Michael Olise spearheading their attack, take Bayern to simply outscore the Hoops.
BAYERN MUNICH TO WIN AND BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE
Feyenoord vs AC Milan
Feyenoord have given themselves arguably the worst possible preparation for this Champions League play-off first leg, sacking manager Brian Priske just two days before this clash.
Former player Pascal Bosschaart will take charge for this match, but the coaching position has been a poisoned chalice since Arne Slot’s departure to Liverpool.
Feyenoord are fifth in the Eredivise and have been inconsistent in this competition, beating the likes of Bayern Munich and Benfica, but losing by an aggregate score of 9-2 to Lille and Salzburg.
In their last game, Milan suffered a shock defeat to Dinamo Zagreb that saw them miss out on the coveted automatic spot in the last 16, but they did beat Real Madrid, Girona and Club Brugge in the league phase.
Given the turmoil behind the scenes at the Dutch hosts, it is hard to fancy them in this clash and Milan are taken to get this tie off to the perfect start with an away win.
AC MILAN TO WIN
Monaco vs Benfica
Monaco and Benfica will make a small piece of history in this game, the Portuguese side have never met a team in the knockout stages of a European competition that they also took on in the group stages.
That match finished 3-2 to Benfica and was one of a number of entertaining affairs that these sides were involved in, most notably the away team’s dramatic 5-4 loss at the hands of Barcelona.
Four of Monaco’s last six games in all competitions have gone over 2.5 goals and seen both teams find the net and a repeat of that is fancied here.
Benfica beat Atletico Madrid and Juventus in the league phase, but Monaco were no slouches either, beating Barcelona, Aston Villa and Bologna.
With the teams fancied to play on the front foot, as they did in the first game between the two, both sides can score in a game which also goes over 2.5 goals.
BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE AND OVER 2.5 GOALS
