Welcome in to Champions League Best Bets, brought to you by Bettor In Green, where we recap the latest Champions League action and look ahead with my favorite bets for the upcoming matches.

Recap:

Leg 1 of the Round of 16 was a tough one for the 6 English clubs that made it through, with none of the 6 managing a win.

5 of the 8 matches saw a club take at least a 3-goal advantage, with Atlético Madrid, Real Madrid, Bodø/Glimt, and PSG securing a 3-goal lead, while Bayern Munich secured a 5-goal advantage before they head back home for leg 2.

I am still struggling as of late with Best Bets, going 1-2 this round. Barcelona only managed a 1-1 draw (and barely managed that result), while we lost our parlay as Arsenal also only managed a 1-1 draw. We did win on PSG, which looked shaky for 3/4 of the match, but ended in a comfortable win.

Upcoming Matches:

Now we play the return legs. With 5 clubs looking to overcome large deficits, we should be in for some high-flying attacking football in this 2nd leg.

I’m particularly looking forward to see what Manchester City can do at home, as well as how Liverpool do at home, down only a goal to Galatasaray.

Catch every match of the UCL here in the US over on Paramount+!

Let’s get to the bets:

Best Bets:

Pick #1: Arsenal v Bayer Leverkusen 2nd Half Highest Scoring Half +110 (March 17, 2026; 4:00 p.m. EST):

First, I’m taking a market I don’t look at often but like for this matchup, the highest scoring half market.

This season, Arsenal have been one of the most defensively-sound clubs in Europe. They’ve conceded the fewest goals and kept the most clean sheets in the Premier League, and have conceded the fewest goals and kept the 2nd most clean sheets in the Champions League this season.

They have been criticized this season for their over-reliance on set piece goals, often keeping a strong defensive structure until they can get an opportunity from a set piece. 

While I think this is partially true, I think it is rather unfair, as they’ve also scored plenty of goals from open play. However, being defensively resolute until they can pick apart the opposition and find a winning goal does seem a rather fair assessment.

The second half has been the highest scoring half in 7 of their last 10 matches in all competitions, including the 1st leg in Germany.

While Bayer Leverkusen have only had 4 of their last 10 matches have the 2nd half as the highest scoring, they’ve conceded the 3rd fewest goals in the Bundesliga and will be fighting to keep Arsenal from scoring at home.

I expect a match like last week or like Arsenal’s recent EPL match against Everton, where they have chances in the first half, but struggle to break through until the 2nd.

Pick #2: 2-Leg SGP: Barcelona Moneyline and Over 1.5 Total Goals -147 (March 18, 2026; 1:45 p.m. EST):

For my next Best Bet, I’m heading back to Barcelona, who failed us last week, expecting them to get the job done this week at home against Newcastle.

There are a couple stats that stand out to me regarding Barcelona’s season that make me love this bet. First, they’ve won every home match they’ve played this season except for 1, a loss to PSG in the UCL League Phase in early October.

Second, they’ve only had 1 match this season end under 1.5 goals, a 0-1 victory over Athletic Club on the road earlier this month.

Barcelona just won their recent match at home with a score of 5-2, beating Sevilla. Their high defensive line can certainly be exploited, though they often rely on a heavy attack to outscore their opponents, even if they give up goals in the process.

This is evident by their 77 goals scored in La Liga this season, with the next closest side (Real Madrid) having scored 60. 

Newcastle have had a tough run of matches as of late, though they did just win on the road against Chelsea at the weekend.

Despite this, I expect Barcelona to come out swinging at home and, though they may concede a goal, they’ll likely score 2 or 3 along the way.

Pick #3: 2-Leg Parlay: Liverpool to Advance and Bayern Munich Moneyline -127 (March 18, 2026; 4:00 p.m. EST):

Finally, I’m taking a 2-Leg Parlay for Liverpool to overcome their 1-goal deficit and advance, along with Bayern Munich to win.

Let’s start with the easy one, Bayern Munich. I think Bayern are the strongest club in Europe right now and dismantled Atalanta on the road last week.

They then struggled a bit against Bayer Leverkusen at the weekend, though came back from a man down and a goal down to grab an equalizer, then held on when they went down to 9 men near the end of the match.

Bayern just have too much quality in attack, with Olise in arguably the best form of his career and getting Musiala back from injury.

Further, Bayern have only had 1 draw and 1 loss this season at home in all competitions, winning the rest.

The real trick here should be Liverpool, who have to overcome a 1-goal deficit at home to Galatasaray.

Liverpool have struggled with letting in late goals this season, most recently allowing an equalizer to Tottenham at Anfield this weekend.

However, Liverpool were resting a few of their players at the weekend in anticipation of this match.

Galatasaray have beaten Liverpool on both occasions this year, though both were played in Türkiye, with this match being the first played at Anfield.

Despite Liverpool’s recent struggles, I think they’ll turn up for a big European Night at Anfield. They’ll be eager to stay in the competition and not be beaten a 3rd time by the Turkish side.

My big concern here is if Alisson is out injured, Liverpool will have to rely on their back line to stop the likes of Osimhen and company.

Liverpool have won 3 of their 4 UCL matches at home this season and I am backing them to get over the line with the home field advantage in this match.

Season Record:

League Phase: 12-12

Playoff Round: 1-5

Round of 16: 1-2