UEFA Champions League Qualifying Stage Semi Finals Leg 1 Tips and Predictions

Summary

Champions League Qualification is one of the toughest early-season tournaments to start off with in the European region.

It tests the best teams from all over the continent and puts them in a qualification situation to end up having the opportunity to play at the biggest tournament in the world.

Champions League aspirations are often realistic for the top teams in Europe; however, bad luck and other circumstances can often make these roads difficult.

There can be big favorites in these matchups over two legs and some big upsets can happen as a result.

It is a great experience to have made it through the gauntlet by qualifying for the CL with these matches under your belt and that is exactly what many of these teams are trying to accomplish.

Prestige is a big factor of getting through to the Champions League, but also financial incentive is massive for these small clubs getting to make a splash on the bigger world stage.

Stake.com has the best Champions League qualifying odds in the game, so get your bets in now at our world-renowned sportsbook!

Matchday Previews and Analysis

AS Monaco (France) versus PSV (Netherlands) Leg #1

Monaco is a dominant force within France footballing history and are on track to make their return to the Champions League very soon.

They fell in this draw of qualifying after an early exit in the group stages last season and will come in with a revenge mode mindset in their club.

Although they do not challenge PSG domestically, Monaco has a talented group of players and is the former team of the all-star, Kylian Mbappe.

Some of the key-stars on this team currently include Wissam Ben Yedder, the speedy French striker with ability to put teams on his back.

Goal-scoring is not a problem for Monaco, but they can concede the utmost silliest goals you will see on the back end. PSV will have chances but Monaco will likely have more.

PSV knows that this competition has yielded some great results over the club’s past.

However, they are coming to this iteration of the Champions League with less talent than usual. That is not to say that they are not loaded, either way.

PSV will have the younger players and will likely force moves on the counter in order to put pressure on Monaco.

This first leg will be tough, especially away from home, and I’m not sure they have the experience and calmness needed.

Prediction - AS Monaco to win leg one in dominant fashion, money line play and spread!

Qarabag (Azerbaijan) versus Ferencvaros (Hungary) Leg #1

After a narrow extra-time win in the last round, Qarabag is through to the semi-finals stage of qualifying.

The best squad in Azerbaijan, Qarabag has caused some major upsets in the European region in the past decade.

Qarabag has a bunch of talented players for their country’s standards and have thus dominated the competition for a long period of time.

They have strong strikers that can make some turns in the box while firing off powerful shots in the top right corner of the net.

When they can finish, they are one of the better dogs in this qualification race, but it has not been wildly consistent for the past few months now.

Qarabag will be drawing on their past experiences as well as the front three to do some damage against Hungary’s best.

Ferencvaros have been the comeback kings in the past few rounds of qualification and their momentum looks to be on the uptrend with each game.

The men in green and white will be coming into this tie with the mentality of moving on.

Prediction - over 2.5 goals in a wild first leg between two equal teams