This midweek action in the European club football brings us the final qualifying round for UEFA’s premier competition, so we present the very best and absolutely free Champions League betting tips for the matches on August 21, 2024. In the capital city of Bern, Switzerland’s champions Young Boys will host Turkish champions Galatasary in a battle between two footballing nations that have been on the rise in recent years in terms of their national sides. Nowadays, it’s rare to see actual domestic champions go head-to-head in the Champions League. Despite the name of the tournament, it has been sort of watered down with anything but actual champions as often clubs that have finished third or fourth in their league went on to win the competition. These are thoughts for another discussion, so let’s focus on all the facts and stats that will help us come up with the most accurate Young Boys v Galatasary prediction and free Champions League betting tip.
Young Boys Facts & Stats
Both the Swiss and Turkish champs are looking to secure a place in the league phase of the 2024/25 Champions League. As you probably know, this year marks the introduction of a new format in the tournament, and we will no longer have the traditional groups, but a single league where evey club gets to play 8 matches (4 home, 4 away).
Young Boys and Galata were part of the Champions League group stages last season. Young Boys finished third in their group behind Machester City and Red Bull Leipzig, but ahead of Crvena Zvezda thanks a 2:0 win at home after a 2:2 draw in Belgrade. They lost all four matches against City and RBL.
In terms of the history, the Swiss side have never lost against a Turkish opponent. They have played just two times – in the qualifying tie against Fenerbahce in 2011, drawing at home 2:2 and winning in Turkey by 0:1.
After their elimination from the CL, Young Boys moved to the Europa League, but lasted just one tie – losing to Sporting Lisbon 1:3 at home, and 1:1 in Portugal.
Last year, YB won their sixth Swiss Super League trophy in the past seven years, so they have been dominant domestically.
Their current form, however, has been an entirely different matter. Despite being so early in the season, Yong Boys are next to last in the league after five rounds, and that has to be quite concerning for their fans. Their goal difference is -7 and they’ve picked just two draws losing the other three games. They lost the home openere against Sion 1:2. Then they were trashed by Servette by 3:1 and St Gallen 4:0! All in all, YB have been underwhelming at the start of this season to say the least.
Galatasaray Stats & Facts
Galatasary also finished third in their Champions League last season, but they had some tough company with Bayern Munich, Manchester United, and Copenhagen. Galata started off brightly winning by 2:3 in a shocker at Old Trafford. However, they managed just two draws thereafter, and were eliminated in the final match going down 1:0 in Denmark. Still, they ammassed five points, and had a much more memorable experience compared to Yong Boys.
Again, a single tie in the Europe League was all that followed after a 1:4 defeat at home against Sparta Prague. The Turks actually won the first leg 2:3.
Last season, Galatasary won the Turkish Superleague for the second consecutive year.
The Stadium at Bern
A really important factor in our free Champions League betting tips for August 21 is the fact that the game will be played at the Wankdorf Stadion in Bern. Specifically, it’s the pitch at Young Boys’ home stadium that will have the biggest impact. In light of the more difficult winter conditions in Switzerland, the Wankdorf Stadion has artificial surface. Of course, YB are used to playing on that pitch, but it’s always challenging for the away teams and gives the hosts a major advantage.
Josep Gurdiola was quite mad at that fact when his Citizens had to play there last season, saying that it’s common sense that football is to be played on grass:
“The grass is better, [than an artificial surface],” Guardiola said. “Because 99.9 per cent of the teams who play in high level play on grass, otherwise Uefa and Fifa would decide to play on artificial pitch. It’s common sense I would say. It is what it is. If Uefa allows games to be played here it’s because it’s in good conditions. That’s one of the reasons we never train away [to ensure we have our own surface] but this is an exception.
Josep Guardiola
Young Boys v Galatasaray Betting Preview and Prediction
Both sides play similar style of football. They like to attack, and yet they do concede a lot of chances at the back. I watched the Swiss’ champs 2:2 draw at Yverdon and their defensive shortcomings were well on display. Yverdon had loads of opportunities to score and could have easily won the game.
As for Galata, they are the more quality side here, no doubt. Their overall selection is much more expensive featuring some world class caliber players, such as Inter’s former captain Mauro Icardi, Premier League superstar Wilfred Zaha, Ajax prodigy and fomer Chelsea player Hakim Ziyech, Michy Batshuayi, Napoli legend Dries Mertens, Lazio’s ex goalkeeper Muslera, Fiorentina’s former midfield rock Torreira, and Bayer Leverkusen’s midfield maestro Kerem Demirbay. Overall, I do fancy the Turkish champs to win the tie and qualify for the league phase. They just have so much more talent in their ranks.
That’s the reason why the bookmakers are seeing Galatasary as heavy favourites to win the tie (1.22) and also expect them to win in Switzerland at the odds of 1.83. Anything else would be a huge shock.
However, I don’t think this would be an easy game for them. Yong Boys play fast, they have a powerful central forward in Ganvoula, and their artificial pitch will cause the Turkish champs some difficulties as well. In addition, the YB home fans make a great atmosphere, so it would be a hostile environment for Galatasaray.
Thus, my free Champions League betting tips for this week is to avoid betting on the away win here, and go after the goals. This should be an open goals with loads of chances to score. The odds on Over 2.5 Goals are not anything spectacular at 1.70, but if you’ve read our book, you would know that one of the best strategies is to waith for the odds to increase and bet on the live action.
