THE Champions League quarter-final straight knockout stage begins on Wednesday night with a mouthwatering match between Atalanta and PSG at the Estadio da Luz.
Atalanta, following a fairy tale 2018/19 season that culminated in a third-place finish in Serie A, will make history this midweek when they make their first-ever appearance in the last-eight of Europe's elite club competition.
Gian Piero Gasperini's side have quickly become one of Europe's most lauded teams and the Bergamo outfit will attract plenty of attention in the Champions League outright betting markets at a best 12/1 with Bet 365.
The attack-minded La Dea lit up the Italian top-flight yet again last season where they slammed in 98 goals across 38 outings – an eye-watering average of just over 2.5 goals per-game.
Standing in Atalanta's way of a place in the last-four is a PSG side who possess one of the most formidable playing squads in all of world football.
Indeed, Thomas Tuchel's star-studded side recently delivered a domestic treble, however, the former Dortmund boss' mission statement is to deliver the holy grail that PSG have not been able to reach, namely, the Champions League.
Outright Betting
Atalanta have avoided defeat in each of their last five Champions League matches, however, the bookies fancy that run to end in Lisbon with an Italian success in normal time trading at 12/5 with Betfred.
PSG begin this bout as 21/20 favourites with Bet 365 while an all-square affair – an outcome that would set up extra-time and potential penalty-kicks – pays 3/1 with Betfred.
Betting Angles
Punters will naturally gravitate towards the goal markets at the Estadio da Luz given that Atalanta have been scoring for fun coupled with the array of attacking talent that Thomas Tuchel has at his disposal.
However, the bookmakers odds reflect this with both teams to score priced up at 1/2 with Bet 365 while over 2.5 match goals is 8/15 with the same firm and therefore different betting angles will have to be explored to try and generate some value from this contest.
Having done just that, one alternative angle that I like the look of is the combination of 3+ match goals, 3+ match cards and 6+ match corners which is priced up at 4/5 with PaddyPower.
Taking the above-mentioned approach would have banked profit in two of La Dea's last three Champions League outings and I'm happy to side with a repeat on Wednesday night given that six of Atalanta's eight assignments in this season's competition have produced over.25 match goals.
It's also worth noting that 27 of Atalanta's 38 Serie A games last season featured over 2.5 strikes while 19 of PSG's 27 Ligue 1 fixtures last term would have paid out on a punt on over 2.5 goals.
Furthermore, Atalanta have the leakiest defence of the eight remaining sides in the tournament having shipped 16 goals across their eight games to date and that does not bode well ahead of showdown with Neymar and Co.
Indeed, the stakes are high here but given the makeup of both sides a high scoring affair looks likely and there's also plenty of potential for cynical fouls with a place in the semi-final up for grabs.
I'm also going to have a small play on Gasperini's goal-getters to score two or more goals at 13/10 with BetVictor – a bet that would have banked profit in each of Atalanta's last three Champions League matches.
What's more, Italy's great entertainers made the net bulge on two or more occasions in a whopping 35 of their 38 Serie A tussles last term and given that the Parisians backline is far watertight two or more Atalanta goals looks generously priced on Wednesday night.
This UEFA Champions League match between Atalanta and PSG will be played on Aug 12, 2020 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Atalanta vs PSG prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
