From here to Eternity

As the sinking ship that this blog has become over the last week attempts to bail out the water and stop us falling below the +67.99pts we have sunk to we will turn our attention back to some European action before the saviour of Aintree later in the week.

A wiser man than me once said there is no period of time between here and eternity for which an Italian team cannot defend a 1-0 lead. Tonight Inter travel to Moscow attempting to do just that. Obviously the smart money will be on the draw and so must be opposed. The absence of 2 of CSKA's central midfielders is a concern but Inter are also missing a few players and on the artificial pitch in the Moscow cauldron the much under-rated CSKA can score a victory for football by eliminating Mourinho from the competition.

2.5pts CSKA @ 3.6 (Betfair)

1pt e/w Messi to score first @ 3/1 (expekt): doesn't need a huge amount of explanation - Barca at home at 1/3 with an expected goal line of about 3.4 makes him value to get on the score sheet at some point and hopefully can deliver the win money as well for once.

3pts Bordeaux to win @ 11/10 (Paddy Power): Are still the better team in my opinion and home advantage is a massive edge in these second legs. I expect goals in this game as Bordeaux need to chase Lyon's lead.

1.5pts Over 2.5 goals @ 2.12 (Betfair): Yes French league games have horribly few goals but this is not a league game and normal rules do not apply here. Bordeaux can not afford to be cautious for too long and expect things to open up as they chase the game.

I can't really see where the price for the G3 hurdle in Fairyhouse are coming from - I would have a massively different market to this. I would have Dr DJ and Big Game Hunter a lot bigger and Shanrod slightly shorter but the biggest value looks to be Politeo. Had BGH behind him last day when they all trailed around behind Alaivan. A small interest e/w looks to be no harm.

0.75pts e/w Politeo @ 11/1 (VC)