The absence of Cristiano Ronaldo overshadows the game and is why we see Barcelona as marginal favourites for the final in Valencia. This is the third Clásico of the season and Barce have won the other two, the last 4-3 at the Bernabeu last month.
Parma ended their mini blip with a 1-0 win over Napoli last weekend, but it was a fortunate win in my opinion and on another day, a match they could have lost comfortably. Ahead of the fixture I wrote:
Bristol Rovers are just four points above the drop zone, they are the same number adrift of Cheltenham Town in 13th and should have enough about them to secure safety, but will want to get this decided as soon as possible.
We are on Benfica outright (see foot of email) and with a 1-0 lead from the first leg and holding a seven point lead at the top of SuperLiga with just four rounds to play, I am very pleased with our position, the title should be done and dusted before the semi final and then their entire focus can switch to this competition, well almost. They do have a domestic cup competition semi-final with rivals Porto next midweek, so a case that they might want to get through the game tonight with the minimum of effort and that is almost always, the Portugese way in any case.
I do not pretend to win every day, or week, that would just be ridiculous and as I have told you many times, the only 100% sure thing and there is not much you can say that about in gambling, is that I will bet 600 + losers in 2014. What is almost as certain, is that the clubgowi newsletter service will make readers who follow it long term and bet all red type selections, somewhere between 100 and 300 times their unit stake over the 12 months. That is not "guaranteed", you will never hear me say that, but it is far and away the most likely thing to happen.