Tottenham Hotspur need a victory to keep their slim qualification hope alive at Wembley. The North Londoners feel they played better in Milan and did not deserve to lose while Internazionale requires a draw in London to book their place in the knockout stage for the first time since 2011/12. Liverpool visit the French capital aiming to inflict pain on their host Paris Saint-Germain with qualification still on a knife edge in this group. Thomas Tuchel would love to turn the tables on Jurgen Klopp as the PSG coach is yet to defeat his Liverpool counterpart in three European duels. AS Roma and Real Madrid can book their place in the last 16 with a draw at the Olimpico, Los Blancos have a good record against their host in Rome (4W, 1L) while the Giallorossi have on a solid home run in the Champions League, winning seven on the bounce and conceding just two goals.
Here is our preview of some UEFA Champions League Match Day 5 games across the eight groups.
Group B;
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR v INTERNAZIONALE – WED. 28 NOV 2018, 21.00HRS
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Tottenham host Inter at Wembley in the battle for second spot in Group B behind leaders Barcelona as the group phase winds down. Spurs need a victory; one with two goals difference or with a minimal 1-0 scoreline if they aim to displace the Italians on the table going into the final group game. Luciano Spaletti’s team are in a better position going to London, they know a draw will be sufficient to earn them a spot in the knockout stages. Both teams won in their respective domestic leagues over the weekend but the host would be in high confidence following their impressive display against Chelsea. The Lilywhites were dominant on Saturday evening; Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Son Heung-Min and Christian Eriksen lit up Wembley and Pochettino will expect similar performance on Wednesday night.
VERDICT – Spurs do not have a formidable record at Wembley (5W, 4L) in the Champions League. Inter lost in the group stage on their last trip to Tottenham Hotspur in 2009/10 season. The home team usually prevails in encounters between these two two teams, will that run continue? Spurs have made it five wins in a row on Saturday while Inter rebounded from their defeat at Atalanta to secure a comfortable home win over Frosinone. Tottenham are much stronger than Frosinone and are in a must-win situation. Harry Kane and Mauro Icardi should provide fire power for both teams in attack. Will Spurs get a deserved win at home considering Pochettino’s claim that they did not deserve to lose at the San Siro?
Group C;
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN v LIVERPOOL – WED. 28 NOV 2018, 21.00HRS
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Parc des Princes is the venue for this Group C mouthwatering clash between the French champions and last season Champions League finalist. The reverse fixture on Match Day 1 provided an intriguing clash at Anfield with the Reds snatching all three points thanks to a Roberto Firmino late winner. PSG could only manage back-to-back draws against Napoli while Liverpool suffered a surprise defeat against FK Crvena zvezda in Belgrade last time out to leave them with six points from four games. Liverpool and Napoli currently occupy the top two spots in the group with PSG a point behind and Crvena zvezda a further point behind Les Parisiens to leave the group wide open with every team still capable of making it.
VERDICT – A win takes Liverpool through if ‘Red Star’ do not win in Naples. Paris Saint-Germain cannot qualify if they lose and Napoli wins. The French club won the only previous meeting between these two teams in Paris but they are sweating on the fitness of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe for this crucial game. Jurgen Klopp’s troop have lost their two away games in the group stage and will hope to avoid a third straight defeat. Tuchel has an axe to grind against Klopp whose team has edged his in European meetings. Both teams will have a go and we can expect goals at the two ends.
Group D;
FC PORTO v SCHALKE 04 – WED. 28 NOV 2018, 21.00HRS
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The battle for top spot in Group D takes center stage at Estadio Do Dragao. Both teams are unbeaten in the group stage so far; home team Porto lead the way with 10 points from four games while visiting Schalke have eight points. Portuguese champions Porto are equally enjoying a fine domestic campaign, they are top of the log of Primeira Liga standings while Schalke’s domestic form is the opposite of their European campaign. The Miners have lost seven Bundesliga games after 12 rounds of matches though the Royal Blues brushed aside Nurnberg on Saturday to give them some confidence ahead of their trip to Portugal.
VERDICT – Porto will clinch top spot in the group with a victory and secure qualification with a draw at home. The two sides took on each other in the battle for a place in the Champions League quarter-final in the 2008/09 campaign. Schalke advanced on penalties as teams snatched a narrow home win apiece (1-0). They shared spoils in a 1-1 draw in the first game of this group stage in Gelsenkirchen. Porto have won seven on the spin at Dragao in all competitions and kept five clean sheets in the process. Domenico Tedesco’s team have struggled on the road and it is unlikely to change in Porto which mean Sérgio Conceição team could keep their winning run going.
Group F;
OLYMPIQUE LYON v MANCHESTER CITY – TUE. 27 NOV 2018, 21.00HRS
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Lyon welcome English champions Manchester City to the Groupama Stadium on Match Day 5. Les Gones stunned Pep Guardiola’s team on the opening night of the group phase but the English champions have responded back by winning their next three matches in the group to lead the way in Group F. It is not in the doubt that the visitors would be highly motivated to avenge their Match Day 1 defeat against the French outfit. Lyon defeated local rivals Saint Etienne in the Rhone derby to set themselves up for this important clash while Manchester City, on an eight game winning run in all competitions brushed aside West Ham on Saturday. Lyon need a victory to secure qualification but haven’t managed a home victory in this Champions League campaign against Shakhtar Donetsk or Hoffenheim which makes this a much difficult task to accomplish.
VERDICT – Manchester City travel to France without Kevin De Bruyne and Benjamin Mendy while Lyon have an almost full roster to pick. Lyon’s last six home matches in UEFA competition has seen the record three wins, two draws and a defeat. Manchester City’s sole defeat this season was in the reverse fixture at the Etihad Stadium. Can Lyon do a double over City? Les Gones will be boosted by the derby victory but their inconsistency has been a major concern for Bruno Genesio. Pep Guardiola hardly loses to the same rival consecutively and in this rich vein of form, City have shown they can win anywhere.
Group G;
AS ROMA v REAL MADRID – TUE. 27 NOV 2018, 21.00HRS
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Two teams experiencing a topsy-turvy campaign clash at Stadio Olimpico in a battle for top spot in the group. Real Madrid dispatched Roma on Match Day 1 comfortably at home but slumped on their first trip away to CSKA Moscow. On the other hand, last season semi-finalist have picked up three straight wins since their poor showing at the Bernabeu in September to sit on top of the group going into this game at home. Real Madrid have changed coaches this season but their problems still remains. The European champions were taken apart easily in Ipurua by Eibar while Roma did not fear better at Stadio Fruili, losing to struggling Udinese as the pressure continues to build up on Eusebio Di Francesco. The honeymoon period is over for Real Madrid new coach Santiago Solari who should have a full knowledge of the enormous challenge at hand as he tries to reconstruct Real Madrid.
VERDICT – This will be their seventh meeting since 2014 with Madrid winning the last four in a row. The goals appeared to have returned since Solari’s appointment but the performance at Eibar brought the hidden problems to the fore. Roma are formidable at home in the Champions League winning the last seven in front of their fans – Barcelona and Chelsea suffered three nil defeats each so Real Madrid need to know what they can expect. This is a perfect opportunity for the Giallorossi to end their barren run against a fragile Real Madrid.
Group H;
JUVENTUS v VALENCIA – TUE. 27 NOV 2018, 21.00HRS
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Juventus suffered a surprised defeat to Manchester United in the last group game – a loss which opened the group up for Manchester United and Valencia to have a shot at runaway leaders Juventus. Cristiano Ronaldo will be out to set the record straight against an old adversary having been sent off in controversial circumstance in the reverse fixture at Mestalla. The Old Lady are still in firm control of the group and their destiny but will need to avoid another surprise result against a resurgent Valencia who have won their last three matches in all competitions. Los Che can keep their qualification hope alive with a victory in Turin but that is easier said than done.
VERDICT – Emre Can and Sami Khedira are two huge absentees for Juventus while Marcelino should have a complete squad to travel with to Turin. Winning in Turin is a tall order for Valencia who have only won three of their last nine Champions League away matches. Will Juventus lose a second game on bounce in front of the Old Lady faithful? Cristiano Ronaldo looks to be settling well in his new club, he has scored seven times in his last eight games. With an assured goal scorer for Max Allegri’s team, it would not be a smart move bet against La Vecchia Signora.
This wraps us our Match Day 5 Focus. Predict and win big in this money spinning competition by visiting our Sports shop Babaijebu.ng for mouthwatering offers for all UCL matches.