It’s going to be a wild ride in sports today. Italian Serie A champions Juventus will travel all the way to Spain for a Champions League match against La Liga Champions Atletico Madrid. It’ll be soccer’s biggest match of the week, and it won’t fail to disappoint. Meanwhile, the San Francisco Giants and the Pittsburgh Pirates will continue the explosive start set by the Oakland A’s and Kansas City Royals last night.
For more MLB postseason action, head over to our complete series preview for the National League’s St. Louis Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Dodgers.
[sc:MultiSportArticles ]Juventus vs. Atletico Madrid (2:45 PM ET)
Line: Juventus +240 at Atletico Madrid EVEN; tie +215; total 2.0 – view these lines
[sc:Soccer240banner ]Atletico Madrid lost their Champions League opener 3-2 to Olympiakos on September 16. They responded with force going 2-0-1 in domestic club play, including a 4-0 rout of Sevilla. Atletico’s Croatian striker Mario Mandzukic is set to return against Juventus today after suffering a broken nose against Olympiakos. Mandzukic last met Juventus in the quarterfinal of the 2012-2013 Champions League season, scoring a goal in a 2-0 win for his former team, Bayern Munich.
However, the Old Lady have kept clean sheets this season in five Serie A games as well as their Champions League opener against Malmo.
Writer’s Prediction
Juventus shut down Atletico’s offense on the way to a tie.
San Francisco Giants vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (8:05 PM ET)
Line: San Francisco Giants (-111) at Pittsburgh Pirates (+101); total 6.5 – view these lines
The San Francisco Giants have one extra hurdle to clear before they can make their third division series in five years. The Giants are 1-5 in their last five road games, and they’ll play their do-or-die NL Wild Card Playoff at Pittsburgh. Still, the Giants have ace Madison Bumgarner to get them out of sticky situations. MadBum went 18-10 with a 2.98 ERA in a solid regular season, but lost his lone start against Pittsburgh. The Pirates battered him for five runs in just four innings on July 28.
Meanwhile, the Giants will face the Pirates’ Edinson Volquez. The Pittsburgh starter has pitched in 14 scoreless innings, striking out 16 while issuing four walks in his last two starts. However, he is 2-2 with a 5.72 ERA in 11 career starts against San Francisco.
Writer’s Prediction
The Pittsburgh Pirates end the Giants’ postseason prematurely.
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