UEFA Champions League quarterfinal preview: Barcelona vs. Bayern Munich

The beauty of the random draw of each round format of the UEFA Champions League is that you can see matchups of the best clubs in any round, as a blind draw determines opponents before each part of a competition. And sometimes that means two of the glamour clubs of the planet do battle in the round of eight, which is what happens today when FC Barcelona take on FC Bayern Munich in Lisbon at 3:00 p.m. ET. The match will be broadcast on CBS All-Access in English, and Univision in Spanish.

Barça are their usual swashbuckling selves, but they stand without a trophy in 2020. The Catalan giants finished second in La Liga, and fell out of the Copa del Rey to Athletic Bilbao in the quarterfinals. Their last chance at silverware is the hardest trophy to win, and they don’t exactly enter on a high note: They finished the return to La Liga with seven wins, but a nightmare home loss to Osasuna sealed their fate when it came to the domestic title, and they finished five points behind Real Madrid.

They advanced in this competition with a 4-2 aggregate win over plucky Napoli, with a goal for Lionel Messi and a penalty for Luis Suarez in the second leg at Camp Nou. That duo will be called upon again, as the attacking duo provides as much of a threat as any team in world football.

Bayern have won it all yet again, turning the top-flight of German football into their own personal playground. They won their seventh Bundesliga in eight years by 16 points over Borussia Dortmund, made it a domestic double with a win over Bayer Leverkusen in the final, and they flattened Chelsea 7-1 in the Round of 16 to play here. They are favored today due to a defense anchored by possibly the best goalkeeper ever in Manuel Neuer, and a striker in Robert Lewandowski that has an astonishing 53 goals in 44 matches across all competitions this year. Look for them to try and get forward in a 4-3-3, even against a side as talented as Barca.

This should be a match full of attacking football and fun. The highlight of the four quarterfinals is can’t miss action.

Here are the odds and bet splits for today’s UEFA Champions League tie between Barcelona vs. Bayern Munich at Estádio da Luz, courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook:

After 90 minutes

Barcelona: +245 (12% of action, 16% of bets)
Tie: +295 (11% of action, 7% of bets)
Atlético Madrid: +100 (78% of action, 76% of bets)

To advance to semifinals

Barcelona: +155
Bayern Munich: -195

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL). Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ/WV/PA), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (NH/CO) or 1-800-BETS OFF (IA). 21+ (18+ NH). NJ/PA/WV/IN/NH/IA/CO/IL only. Eligibility restrictions apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for full terms and conditions.