Expert Champions League predictions from Mark Langdon: English sides on top

BT Sport launched a 'Draw the Line' campaign last year to stand against hate speech and abuse on social media.

A statement explained that "the campaign aims to address the problem by raising awareness of the impact of online hate and advocating change, as new research commissioned by BT and YouGov shows that over one in ten have experienced some form of online abuse in the last year and over 1.8 million people have experienced threatening behaviour online in the last 12 months".

On Thursday evening BT Football tweeted out a video to more than a million followers which started with their most famous pundit Rio Ferdinand claiming referee Michael Oliver "wants to be in the news, doesn't he?" when discussing Gabriel Martinelli's red card at Molineux.

It was completely unfounded and will have done nothing but help some weird narrative that referees are in some way out to get Arsenal following a run of four red cards this year as well as heaping unjust grief the way of arbiter Oliver.

Pundits have the right to discuss officiating - after all there are a number of former referees desperate to take the media coin and stick the boot in as soon as they can - but it needs to be balanced with at least some kind of reasoned logic.

Ferdinand's online influence is huge - presumably that's one reason he is promoting NFTs to his 11 million followers on Twitter - but with that comes a responsibility to be fair.

His words won't only cause issues for Oliver but at grassroots too and BT shouldn't encourage besmirching the character of a perfectly good referee for a few cheap retweets with no justification.

Hopefully the BT Sport punditry will be top-notch for the return of the three European competitions next week as we get ready for the knockout stages of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.

They are wide-open competitions and a treble on the three favourites - Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund and Roma - pays around 170-1 so there are good opportunities to get some interesting multiples going for not much outlay.

The Premier League threat looks so strong in the Champions League and I wouldn't be in a rush to lay any of City, holders Chelsea or Liverpool but preference is for Jurgen Klopp's Merseysiders.

A tie against Inter is no gimme but Liverpool qualified with maximum points from arguably the most difficult group and are going to be extremely difficult to nullify at Anfield.

Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz's arrivals have added major strength in depth to the Reds attack and last season's defensive woes owed much to Virgil van Dijk's lengthy absence.

Ten-year trends can narrow the field significantly in the Europa League as Spanish sides have won it in seven of the last ten years and English teams in the other three.

Two to consider are Sevilla, who would have home advantage in the final, and perhaps even more so their underrated city rivals Betis. But Champions League mainstays Barcelona take a step down in grade and are too tempting to ignore despite a tough draw against Napoli.

Xavi has changed the squad in January with Ferran Torres, Adama Traore and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang adding a new dimension to the forward line, while young midfielders Pedri and Gabi are destined for superstardom.

Complete the treble with Rennes, who are second in France on xG behind Paris St-Germain, and have young talented players on the upgrade. New-look Celtic could give punters a decent run for their money too for those looking for a second dart.

Best bets

Liverpool to win Champions League
1pt 11-2 Betfair, Paddy Power
Barcelona to win Europa League
1pt 17-2Betfair, Paddy Power
Rennes to win Conference League
1pt 10-1 general
Liverpool, Barcelona, Rennes
0.25pt Trixie Betfair, Paddy Power

£1 winning trixie would cost £4 and return £917 with Betfair or Paddy Power

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