[Mario]

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
11/5/2014

Maribor vs Chelsea

Home - Maribor
Last away matches - W-L-W-D-D-W

Maribor had to wait 15 years in order to qualify to the group phase of UEFA Champions League again. 15 years ago Maribor finished their group on fourth place, with four points collected (1:0 Dynamo Kyiv, 0:0 Bayer Leverkusen). Last season Slovenian champions played in the Europa League when they faced other English club in group stage, Wigan Athletic. Maribor managed to get a home win (2:1) and it was their only victory against English clubs in history of seven games (overall record is W1, D1, L5). It’s worth to notice that during this season Maribor already made two surprised as they managed to get 1:1 draws against higher-rated opponents: Sporting Lisbon and Schalke 04. However, two weeks ago, they suffered from heavy 0:6 defeat at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea. It was a one-way traffic, but now it’s time for a revenge. “Chelsea are a big club, probably the biggest to ever come to our stadium. But I trust my colleagues, we believe in ourselves and we know that we can play against any team in the world. Of course Chelsea are big favourites, but they will have to beat our defence firs. Yes, they are quick with a lot of creativity in attack. Everybody knows Chelsea, we watch them every week, so we know that they don’t have any weaknesses. But at the same time we are not afraid of anyone,” said defender Arghus.

Away - Chelsea
Last away matches - W-D-W-W-D-W

Chelsea are doing very well, both in English Premier League and UEFA Champions League. However, their recent league match (narrow 2:1 home win over Queens Park Rangers) wasn’t great and coach Jose Mourinho wasn’t happy with his team’s performance. “It’s important to win when you don’t play so well as normal. In the end we deserved to win but the result could’ve been more than such a narrow result. We have to be more consistent and play better,” said Portuguese manager. Generally, those are busy days for Chelsea. Around 10 days ago they played against Manchester United at Old Trafford, then in mid week they had to feature against Shrewsbury in Capital One Cup. Last Saturday there was a mentioned game against QPR, now Champions League match against Maribor, and finally Liverpool at the weekend just before the international break. “It was a very strange week to work and to be focused. We tried, but the individual performances weren't there (against QPR) and the collective performance was not there too,” Mourinho explained.

Asian Handicap
Home - (+1.75)
Away - (-1.75)
Pick - Chelsea (-1.75)
Odds - 2.28
Stakes - 10/10
_______________________________________________
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
11/5/2014

Paris Saint Germain vs APOEL Nicosia

Home - Paris Saint Germain
Last away matches - W-W-W-D-W-D

PSG are often criticised this season for not playing well enough. In fact, Laurent Blanc's men did really well in just one game, and that is home win over Barcelona (3:2) on matchday 2 in UEFA Champions League. Two weeks ago, in first match against APOEL in Cyprus, French champions didn’t impress either but again good fortune didn’t leave them and in the end they got much needed 3 points. Last weekend PSG put up another mediocre performance. Lorient were leading 1:0 at half time and were a clearly better side, however after the break PSG improved their level of play and won that match. Although PSG most often don’t impress, it should be said that they didn’t lose a single game this season. Now, in case of victory, they’ll secure their place in the play-offs (provided Ajax won’t beat Barcelona). Zlatan Ibrahimovic is still sidelined with injury. Players realize it’s an important game and they must play at high level. “In the league and in UEFA Champions League, you need to play with high intensity otherwise you are struggling.

Away - APOEL Nicosia
Last away matches - W-W-W-L-W-D

APOEL, after getting just 1 point from first 3 games, have now very little chances of progressing to the next round. The Cypriot club would need a victory from this match in order to retain realistic chances, but it’s unlikely to happen. In the past APOEL have never won any away game in the Champions League (overall record is W0, D5, L4). They also don’t have good memories from matches against French clubs on their ground in the recent years as APOEL have lost to Lyon (0:1) and Bordeaux (1:2) in the last few years.

Asian Handicap
Home - (-1.50)
Away - (+1.50)
Pick - APOEL Nicosia (+1.50)
Odds - 2.09
Stakes - 9/10