Tough UCL clashes ahead

Tough UCL clashes ahead

Four cash-added TAB soccer pools add excitement to the weekend and before that look out for some fiery second-leg clashes after several first-leg ties in the opening first preliminary round of the UEFA Champions League didn’t quite go to plan

By Mark Gleeson

TAB soccer customers are in the pound seats yet again in the next week with a succession of great pools as well as cash-added boosts to four TAB soccer pools through the weekend.

The draw for first preliminary round of the UEFA Champions League threw up what looked to be many lopsided ties, but last week’s first-leg matches poured cold water over that assumption.

Teams with regular European club competition experience like Lech Poznan of Poland, Slovenia’s Maribor, Slovan Bratislava of Slovakia and Swish champions Malmo were expected to overwhelm supposedly inferior opposition in the first legs, but all now face tough assignments tonight and tomorrow if they are to stay in the competition.

Malmo last year went all the way through the three preliminary rounds and another playoff round to reach the lucrative group stage of the competition, in which they took on the likes of Chelsea and Juventus.

But they are now up against it as they head to Iceland for another meeting with Vikingur Reykjavik, holding a slender 3-2 lead from the first leg in Malmo last week. Luckily for the Swedes, the away-goals’ rule no longer applies in Champions League, so the two goals conceded to their Icelandic visitors are not as important as before. But fact remains that Vikingur need only win by a single goal to force the tie into the lottery of a penalty shootout.

The likes of Poznan and Maribor are also precariously placed after moderate first-leg performances. But it has to be remembered that for many clubs the first-leg ties were their first games after the off-season, so it’s understandable if they were rusty.

There are also midweek matches in Major League Soccer in the USA, where the weekend saw New York RB retain their top place in the Eastern Conference while Los Angeles FC won their derby to stay two points clear in the West.

But both could be usurped if Austin win at home to Houston Dynamos ad Philadelphia Union are successful away at inconsistent Inter Miami.

In Brazil, it’s knockout time too with the Copa do Brasil survivors set to be reduced to the last eight. The second-leg ties of the round of 16 will be played this week, one month after the first legs with much water having flowed under bridges since.

TAB soccer punters looking for upsets might fancy Sao Paulo in their away derby clash with Palmeiras. The hosts are stretched over several fronts, leading the Brazilian Serie A standings and trying to win the Copa Libertadores for a third time. Therefore they are unlikely to apply their top resources to the Copa do Brasil.