Recap (Full Card At End)
Matchweek 2 day 1 of the 2025 UCL campaign is already upon us with clubs like Real Madrid, Tottenham, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich seeking their 2nd straight win to begin the tournament. Elsewhere, Chelsea face their old manager Jose Mourinho as he and Benfica travel to Stamford Bridge for a crucial affair. Atletico Madrid host the Bundesliga side Frankfurt after they ran rampant 5-1 over Galatasaray in their last UCL fixture. Not to be outdone, Ligue 1 side Marseille will welcome Ajax to France with both sides seeking their first UCL point.
Club Brugge @ Atalanta
A pair of quality attacking sides meet in Italy after Atalanta’s 4-0 shutout loss to french giants PSG in their UCL opener. Atalanta will enter this fixture unbeaten in their last 3 domestic outing, but their loss to PSG highlighted a leaky defense that is vulnerable against elite opposition. They have done well offensively scoring in 4 of their last 5 matches, but their defense has been inconsistent in that same time frame with both clean sheets and high scoring games. Club Brugge looked fantastic in their first UCL game of the year defeating the French side Monaco 4-1. They’ll hope to carry that momentum into this fixture as they have also been scoring goals for fun domestically including a 5-5 draw and multiple wins where they scored more than once home and away. The last time these 2 sides faced each other was not that long ago, as Club Brugge was victorious in both meetings in the 2024-25 UCL playoff round back in February knocking Atalanta out of the competition. Club Brugge player Hans Vanaken has been particularly influential in his team’s attack scoring and assisting in their win over Monacco. Vanaken has been directly involved in 14 goals for the club in the UCL, more than twice as many as any other Brugge player. I like Club Brugge to continue their dominance in the UCL and in particular over Atalanta by covering the spread on a trip to Italy. I also like the player prop for Hans Vanaken to score or assist for Club Brugge.
Best Bet: Club Brugge +0.5 (-110)
Player Prop: Hans Vanaken +0.5 Goal/Assist (+3000)
Benfica @ Chelsea
Club legend Jose Mourinho makes his return to Stamford Bridge as the new manager for Benfica. Mourinho has a fantastic track record in the Champions League, winning with Porto in 2004 and Inter Milan in 2010. That feat puts him in historic company, with the likes of Guardiola, Ancelotti, and Enrique as the only active managers to have won the competition twice. Chelsea have been struggling defensively ever since their last UCL game against Bayern Munich a 3-1 loss. The English side have yet to keep a clean sheet in 5 games while also scoring themselves in each of those encounters. Benfica on the other hand have responded well domestically to their UCL opening day loss to Qarabag 2-3 by going unbeaten in their last 3 domestic games including 2 wins. This should be an interesting matchup of 2 very contrasting styles as I expect Benfica to defend deep and hit on the counter as Mourinho teams often do. I like Mourinho to get the better of his old club tactically and frustrate Chelsea’s attackers at Stamford Bridge.
Best Bet: Benfica +0.5 (+125), Under 2.5 Goals (+120)
Frankfurt @ Atletico Madrid
Atletico is still in search of their first win of the UCL season after a tough opening draw against Liverpool ended in a 3-2 loss. They will host the Bundesliga side Frankfurt who couldn’t be stopped in a 5-1 dismantling of Galatasaray in match week 1. Since those games both sides have heated up in front of goal with Frankfurt tallying 9 goals in their last 2 domestic games and Atletico scoring 9 goals in 3 domestic matches. While both teams have been scoring goals for fun, they have also been conceding at an alarming rate with Frankfurt allowing 7 goals in that same span and Atletico conceding twice in each of their last 2 home wins. Atletico are the better team at home so I expect them to come out on top, but I also think Frankfurt will be able to score some goals in this encounter so I like the Over to exceed 2.5 goals scored as well. I also like the player prop for Atletico’s GK Jan to get 3 or more saves in this contest for the reasons stated above.
Best Bet: Atletico to Win & Over 2.5 goals (-130)
Player Props: Jan Oblak 3 or More Saves (-150)
Liverpool @ Galatasaray
As mentioned before Galatasaray were terrible defensively in their UCL opener conceding 5 goals to Frankfurt in the loss. Liverpool had been perfect on the season in all competitions up until their last Premier League game where they suffered a defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace 2-1. Both sides have flawless records in their last 6 matches, other than the games I mentioned, suggesting that those results will be few and far between. Both sides have boasted strong attacks with Liverpool averaging 2.13 goals per contest and the Turkish side averaging a ridiculous 2.5 goals per match. In fact, the over of 2.5 goals has hit in 6 out of the last 8 matches for both these clubs so far this year. I like the over to surpass the line of 2.5 goals scored again in this fixture and Liverpool to bounce back from their last game and leave Rams Park with all 3 points as they are simply one of the best teams in Europe at the moment. Similar to the last best bet I like Galatasaray’s goal scoring abilities, but not enough confidence to get the win over a superior side.
Best Bet: Liverpool to Win & Over 2.5 Goals (-115)
Tottenham @ Bodo/Glimt
Last years Norwegian League champions and winners of 4 out of the last 5 will host Tottenham fresh off a disappointing 1-1 draw against Wolverhampton in their last game. Tottenham were victorious in their UCL opening match against Villlareal 1-0 while Bodo/Glimt drew against Slavia Praha. The Norwegian side has been dominant in their domestic competitions at home this year going unbeaten in their last 6 matches and winning 5 of those games. Tottenham have been a mixed bag since their UCL win drawing twice in their last 3 games to inferior competition while scoring 7 times in those matches. Bodo/Glimt have scored at least 2 goals in each of their last 4 home Champions League games winning all 4 and seeing the total exceed 2.5 goals scored. I like that trend to continue in this matchup as I’ll take the Norwegian underdogs to protect their home turf with goals.
Best Bet: TOTvsBODO Over 2.5 Goals (-180), Bodo/Glimt +0.5 (-130)
Ajax @ Marseille
A prestigious encounter between 2 of Europe’s most renowned clubs takes place at the Stade Velodrome in France with both clubs eager to bounce back from opening day losses. The Netherlands side Ajax lost to last year’s runners-up Inter Milan with a 2-0 home defeat. Marseille had a much more dramatic affair in their opener against Real Madrid who had to overcome a 2nd half red card to complete a come from behind 2-1 win over the French side. Domestically Marseille have been in good form with a huge win over PSG 1-0 and a hard fought 2-1 win over Strasbourg. Ajax have been scoring well recently with mixed results scoring twice in each of their last 2 domestic games while drawing once and winning once. In fact, in all 3 of their away games so far this year for Ajax the final score has ended in a draw. While Marseille has shown their dominance at home winning all 3 contests and scoring 10 goals in that span. I like Marseille to continue to protect their homefield advantage against the Dutch side in this matchup.
Best Bet: Marseille -1.5 (+110)
Full Card
- Club Brugge +0.5 (-110)
- Hans Vanaken Goal/Assist (+3000)
- Benfica +0.5 (+125)
- CHEvsBEN Under 2.5 Goals (+120)
- Atletico to Win & Over 2.5 Goals (-130)
- Jan Oblak to Make 3 or More Saves (-150)
- Liverpool to Win & Over 2.5 Goals (-115)
- TOTvsBODO Over 2.5 Goals (-180)
- BODO +0.5 (-130)
- Marsielle -1.5 (+110)
The Bookie of Eli 
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