Champions League Semifinals Best Bets
The one piece of hardware missing from the Manchester Derby trophy case is the Champions League trophy. Back in the driver’s seat in the Premier League, City are also in the FA Cup Final and have a legitimate shot at matching rival Manchester United’s 1999 treble.
Standing in their way in the Champions League semifinals are the defending champions, Real Madrid. The teams will face off in Madrid for the first leg before heading to England for the return leg.
The other Champions League semifinal is an all Milan affair as AC Milan and rivals Internazionale face off. Both games will be played at San Siro since the teams share a stadium.
Let’s look ahead to the Champions League semifinal betting odds.
Manchester City vs Real Madrid
Location of the game: Santiago Bernabeu. Madrid, Spain.
Date & Time: Tuesday, May 9. 3:00 PM EST.
How to watch: Paramount +
Internazionale vs AC Milan
Location of the game: San Siro. Milan, Italy.
Date & Time: Wednesday, May 10. 3:00 PM EST.
How to watch: Paramount +
Looking back at the Champions League schedule, Manchester City knocked off Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals with a 3-0 win and a 1-1 draw. Real Madrid won both legs of their quarterfinal with Chelsea by 2-0 scores.
After progressing through the Champions League standings of the group stage, AC Milan beat another Italian side, Napoli in the quarterfinals. They won the first leg 1-0 and drew the second 1-1. Inter got past Benfica with a 2-0 win and a 3-3 draw.
Perhaps no team in the world is playing better than Manchester City, and Pep Guardiola’s team is never short on firepower. Erling Haaland just broke the Premier League 38-game scoring record, and he’s netted 12 goals in eight Champions League games this season. Meanwhile, Kevin de Bruyne has four Champions League assists, while Riyad Mahrez has three goals.
But Real Madrid are the Champions League kings with 14 titles, five in the last decade. They have stumbled in league play, but this provides them with a chance at another major trophy. Vinicius Junior has six CL goals this season, while Rodrygo has five, and Karim Benzema has four.
The Derby Della Madonnina has been played in the Champions League on two other occasions. After a pair of draws, AC Milan won the 2003 semifinals on away goals, and they also prevailed in the 2005 quarterfinals with a 2-0 win and an abandoned win.
The teams met in Serie A play in February, with Inter grabbing a 1-0 win, and they also won the Italian Supercoppa against AC in January 3-0. Olivier Giroud leads AC Milan with five CL goals this season, while three players are tied for the Inter lead with three goals each.
- Manchester City: +115
- Real Madrid: +220
- Draw: +265
- 2.5 goals (Over-140, Under +110)
- Internazionale: +175
- AC Milan: +170
- Draw: +215
- 2.5 goals (Over +125, Under -165)
The best bet for the entire Champions League semifinal betting odds is to take Haaland to score for Manchester City. He is a scoring machine no matter the competition or the opponent and right now his odds to score against Real Madrid are -110, about as low as they will ever be in Champions League odds.
For Real Madrid, Benzema always has a flair for the Champions League dramatic goals, especially at home. He is +140 to score against City in what should be a high-scoring affair.
Both teams have firepower and play aggressive soccer. Look for goals in the first leg, so over 2.5 goals is also a best bet.
The all-Italian semifinal is a little harder to handicap. Inter have the better head-to-head results this year but AC Milan are playing better of late. These teams know each other so well that a first-leg draw at +215 seems to be the best bet.
The Champions League semifinal betting odds will change before the second leg but for the first leg, we like Manchester City to win 2-1 and the Milan Derby to end in a 1-1 draw.
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