Athletic Bilbao v Shakhtar Donetsk > Wednesday September 17th

[Aidymac]

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[TR=class: row0] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=class: firstColumn]Athletic Bilbao v Shakhtar Donetsk (19:45 BST)[/TD] [TD=class: selectionBestOdd, align: center]1.8[/TD] [TD=class: selectionBestOdd, align: center]3.6[/TD] [TD=class: selectionBestOdd, align: center]5[/TD] [TD=class: bppWidth bpp, align: center]103.33 %[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]

[tareks]

Re: Athletic Bilbao v Shakhtar Donetsk > Wednesday September 17th At first, I thought of a clear Bilbao win, given their current form and with the brilliant atmosphere at their new astaadium, but looking at the opponent's european experience, it's not that clear anymore. Any inside info from some Spanish or Ukrainian people ? [TABLE=class: infobox geography vcard]

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[De Graaf]

Re: Athletic Bilbao v Shakhtar Donetsk > Wednesday September 17th Well I'm from Macedonia, so it is more of an outside info. You mentioned the stadium, capacity over 50k and it will be rocking come Wednesday evening. It will the first CL match (groups) played on this stadium, so you can imagine the motivation. Another thing about this place, Bilbao are simply exceptional at home, if someone is not very familiar with them it should be overstated how difficult is for other teams to get a result here. In light of their qualifier against Napoli it was mentioned numerous times how Napoli would have to get a good result in Italy before coming here. Granted the reverse leg was a strange match. The money that comes from this competition are Immensely important for this team. You can say that for all teams at this phase, but the Spanish clubs that usually get good results in La Liga (Bilbao, Sevilla, A.Madrid, Valencia and maybe R.Sociedad and Villareal ) are in a very peculiar position due to how money is distributed in Spain. With the group consisting Porto and Bate also, hosts should make the most of it from their home matches. Bielsa was their former coach and he had set up an excellent unit and a trademark of playing footy. Their present coach Valverde is fantastic in his own light and haven't changed that much. So take in mind that most of this players are young (means eager) and well-drilled in a way of playing for some time now. Since we came to the squad, San Jose and Ibai Gomez were recent absentees and are back for this match. So generally a full squad to pick from. The visitors are also regulars in this competition and would definitely have a go with Porto in the mix. Similar to Bilbao, they are excellent hosts at this stage and I'll be looking for some action on them in the reverse fixture in Ukraine. Don't look at their excellent form in the domestic league, it is a decent reference and a decent league, but not crucial at this level. They are 7 from 8 in Ukraine, or something like that. Legendary coach there too and a familiar squad built over the years. I won't make an argument about tactics and such, counter suits the visitors, Srna is old on the right and may struggle with speed but a very good experienced player. It's many variables and difficult to guess from where I'm sitting. Haven't watched the market but I see that it opened at 1.8 for the hosts and that price is higher now, maybe I am missing something but at evens I would gladly have a go. Dnb is quite short if you like to skip small odds, but viable if you go heavy ( your max 3% I presume). Honestly, did the HW go up these days? why would that happen? I saw the evens and thought I'm not late, hasn't dropped yet but it will.

[james-10-]

Re: Athletic Bilbao v Shakhtar Donetsk > Wednesday September 17th Athletic returned to Champions League with an impressive way after they disqualified Napoli and now they have the opportunity to go further as they are in a group with teams of equal potentials. Of course their big weapon is their home which they are expected to take advantage of, tonight . Shakhtar are in good form with 6/6 wins in the Ukrainian championship and is a team with experience in Champions League as it is the 5^th time in a row they are in the group stage. Athletic can’t lose points in their home if they want to advance in the next round Athletic to win @ 1.87 Marathonbet