ALEX CROOK PREVIEW: Champions League Midweek

Star Sports ambassador ALEX CROOK dissects the mid-week Champions League fixtures, and puts up another ALEX ACCA…

---

SPORTING v ARSENAL
Tuesday, 8pm

⭐ STARSPORTS.BET MATCH MARKETS ⭐

Are Arsenal imploding at the worst possible moment?

Saturday’s shock FA Cup quarter final defeat at Championship Southampton, tipped up at a whopping 9/1 in this column, means the Gunners have gone from competing on four fronts to just two in the space of a fortnight.

Even winning only one of the Premier League or Champions League would still represent a great season for trophy-starved Gunners fans, but they do need to rediscover their mojo quickly.

Mikel Arteta’s side have won nine of their ten European games this season and remain favourites to lift the trophy, primarily because they have been found themselves on the so-called ‘easier’ side of the draw.

They also scored five on their last visit to Lisbon, but Sporting have a 100 per cent record in this season’s Champions League and have also won their last 16 games in front of their own fans.

All that said, the Portuguese giants will be wary of returning hero Viktor Gyokeres, who came off the bench to score at Southampton and bagged for fun during his time in the green and white hoops.

The signs Arsenal were having a mini wobble were evident as they were held to a draw in the first leg of their last 16 tie at Bayer Leverkusen and with fitness doubts over a number of key players, including the absent Bukayo Saka, they are hard to back at odds-on.

Sporting or draw at 1/1 with starsports.bet looks generous given Arsenal’s last few performances.

---

PSG v LIVERPOOL
Wednesday, 8pm

⭐ STARSPORTS.BET MATCH MARKETS ⭐

Liverpool’s woeful season hit a new low as they were thumped 4-0 by Manchester City in Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final.

It is likely to get worse before it gets better for the under-pressure Arne Slot when his side travel to Paris on Wednesday to try and shackle the European champions.

Virgil van Dijk’s admission his team ‘gave up’ at the Etihad should be both alarming for Liverpool fans and music to the ears of their PSG counterparts.

The Reds’ body language in the second half of that game as nothing short of terrible and this free-scoring PSG team is the last one you want to face when confidence is low, as Chelsea found out in the round of 16.

Liverpool may have won in the Parc des Princes last season, but are a massive price to repeat the feat against a home side who have won their last four in all competitions.

Just like last season, Luis Enrique’s men seem to have found form at the perfect time having underwhelmed in the league phase, needing to get the better of Monaco in a play-off for a round of 16 spot.

I do not like tipping odds-on shots but PSG at 8/11 with starsports.bet almost feels like free-money based on what we witnessed from Liverpool at the weekend.

Instead I will back PSG to win and the brilliant Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, once a Reds target to score at any time to boost the price to 3/1 with starsports.bet.

---

REAL MADRID v BAYERN MUNICH
Tuesday, 8pm

⭐ STARSPORTS.BET MATCH MARKETS ⭐

This is a tie worthy of gracing the final itself as two European heavyweights go head-to-head in Madrid and a lot of experts think the winner of the competition may come out of this mouth-watering match-up.

Real, 15-times Kings of Europe, have been inconsistent in La Liga, but their emphatic two-leg win over Manchester City in the last round showed you write them off in the Champions League at your peril.

Bayern were second only to all-conquering Arsenal in the League phase and are my tip to win the European Cup at 3/1 with starsports.bet

The big concern for the visitors is the fitness of Harry Kane, who sat out both of England’s World Cup warm-up games and Bayern’s 3-2 victory at Freiburg on Saturday.

Kane is expected to feature here but how sharp will he be? Either way it is hard to see anything other than a high-scoring encounter given Bayern have bagged 32 goals in their ten European games and Real almost never blank at home.

I think this is the best game of the week and cannot wait to sit back and watch. A 2-2 draw is priced at a bumper 9/1 with starsports.bet.

---

BARCELONA v ATLETICO MADRID
Wednesday, 8pm

⭐ STARSPORTS.BET MATCH MARKETS ⭐

Barcelona came out on top at ten-man Atleti when these two met in a dress rehearsal for their quarter-final showdown on Saturday.

I am expecting the hosts to back that up with a first leg victory at the Camp Nou on Wednesday, having already beaten Diego Simeone’s team twice at home this season.

Even against hapless Tottenham in the last round, Atleti gave away plenty of chances and are by no means the clean sheet masters they once were.

Barca too play very open football and their defensive high-line is one that can be got at so I think there could be goals in this one.

Lamine Yamal is up there as one of the best players on the planet while Julien Alvarez was rested at the weekend so should be fully fresh.

My selection is Barcelona to win, Yamal and Alvarez to score at any time and over 1.5 Atleti cards which returns a tasty 13/1 as a build-a-bet with starsports.bet.

---

RECOMMENDED SELECTIONS
1️⃣ BEST BET: PSG to win and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to score at any time 1pt at 3/1 with starsports.bet
2️⃣ NEXT BEST: Sporting or draw 1pt at 1/1 (⭐ ? CLICK TO BET NOW)
🎲 LONG SHOT: Real Madrid 2 Bayern Munich 2 0.5pts at 9/1 (⭐ ? CLICK TO BET NOW)
📊 BUILD-A-BET: Barcelona to win, Lamine Yamal and Julien Alvarez to score at any time and over 1.5 Atleti cards 0.5pts at 13/1 with starsports.bet
🚀 ALEX ACCA: PSG and Barcelona to win and Sporting v Arsenal and Real Madrid v Bayern Munich to draw 0.5pts at 40/1 (⭐ ? CLICK TO BET NOW)

---

(APR 2026): PROFIT/LOSS: 9.20 points

---

STAR PROMOTIONS