UEFA Champions League: Villarreal vs. Bayern Munich Preview, Odds, Prediction

Bayern Munich is the absolute favorite in the matchup against Villarreal, but the Spanish team won’t surrender because of that. All the bookmakers already see the German powerhouse in the UCL semis, stating that they got an easy opponent. Let us remind that many clubs felt the same way last year in the Europa League upon getting the Yellow Submarine in the knockout stage, and in the end, Unai Emery’s unit won that competition. That is a very good reminder of their strength.

Preview

Villarreal (+475) lost the last two games in La Liga, to Cadiz on the road, 1-0 and against Levante, also on the road, 2-0. Not scoring in two consecutive events is something that frightens the fans. Overall, the team from El Madrigal isn’t playing well, winning two times in the last five games and having three draws.

In all of these events, we saw just one side scoring, and in just one of them, the number of goals reached three. Emery is one of the most gifted managers in Europe when talking about tactics and defensive knowledge. How else would he win all those Europa League trophies?

Villarreal is without a loss at home in the past nine games, winning six of them and recording three draws. On five occasions, we’ve seen them scoring two or more hits.

Bayern Munich (-205) didn’t lose in the last eight overall, having six wins and three draws. Over the past few weeks, Nagelsmann’s unit pumped up the volume, taking three wins and a draw, scoring 15 goals in matches they’ve won. That only draw was in Hoffenheim, 1-1.

The German champs will probably win the title once again, and they don’t have any pressure coming from behind, because of impotent Borussia Dortmund and its inconsistent performances.

One interesting thing when talking about Bayern is performances on the road in recent times. Only two wins in the last five outings outside Munich aren’t what we used to see from this unit.

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Villarreal will have a hard time compensating for Samuel Chukwueze’s and Alberto Moreno’s absence. Both these guys are injured, and they have a solid impact on the Yellow Submarine’s game.

On the other side, Choupo-Moting, Alphonso Davies, and Corentin Tolisso are all out due to various health issues.

Head to Head Games

There were two clashes some 11 years ago, when Villarreal and Bayern Munich met in the UCL group stage. The Bavarians were routine in both games, winning 0-2 in Spain and 3-1 at home.

Prediction

In our opinion, Bayern will win this contest without too many problems. They are fired up before this event, and overall, Nagelsmann stated that all of his players are healthy, focused, and ready to roll. They had a few slips throughout the season, and the people started thinking that Bayern might be on the decline. For the Germans, this is the perfect chance to prove them all wrong and improve morale before the start of the most important part of the campaign. Therefore, Bayern is our pick, for those who are courageous, Bayern -1.5.

Pick: Bayern -205