The Champions League has been a monopoly over the last five years. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Real Madrid, Real Madrid. That is the list of the previous five winners. Regardless of the competition, Barcelona and mostly Real had the two players who made the difference – Ronaldo and Messi. However, Ronaldo is with Juventus now and Roma showed Barca is not invincible. Therefore, this year’s Champions League outcome is as unpredictable as ever.
Champions League Betting Odds
Champions League circle of favorites
A valid case can be made for at least eight teams winning the Champions League, with even more lurking in the background. Bet365 odds say Manchester City are the favorites. Pep Guardiola’s team was knocked out by Liverpool in the quarter-finals last season. It was only the second time in nine seasons the Spanish manager failed to reach the semi-finals, although he hasn’t coached in a final since 2011. He accomplished one goal by winning the Premier League title in record-breaking fashion. The Champions League is next on the check-list.
Barcelona follows suit as the second favorites and rightfully so. Messi is sick of being eliminated in the quarter-finals for three straight seasons and he promised in the summer this season will be different. The fact that the final will be played in Madrid is an added bonus. Atletico Madrid’s brand new Wanda Metropolitano Stadium will be the final’s host, giving Simeone’s team an extra incentive to return to the event which brought a painful loss to Real Madrid on two previous occasions.
Champions League Betting Odds
Then, we have Paris Saint-Germain – the club investing a ton of money and getting no results. The French club has not made it to the last four in the competition since 1994-95. They failed at the last-16 stage last season and were eliminated in the quarter-finals in the four years before that. With Neymar, Mbappe, and Cavani, they’re as potent offensively as anyone else participating in the competition. Their group partners Liverpool match them in style and attacking might. The Reds were a conundrum last season, but not anymore. Reaching the final won’t be simple but judging by this Premier League’s start, Jurgen Klopp’s team is ready for the challenge.
Ronaldo’s former club Real Madrid, current club Juventus and Bayern Munich round out the circle of favorites. The Portuguese are slowly getting to grips with the ultra-defensive Serie A, scoring his first two league goals this weekend, right before Juve’s visit to Valencia and his first return to Spain after the blockbuster transfer. He was directly involved in 50% of Real’s goals in the Champions League from 2009-10 to 2017-18 (105 goals, 27 assists), which is exactly why The Old Lady paid a premium to acquire him. Now they own the player who prevented them from winning the Champions League twice in four seasons prior. As long as he’s on their roster, they have a chance to win.
Champions League Betting Odds
Los Blancos enter the tournament with questions marks, the biggest being whether Gareth Bale can replace Cristiano Ronaldo? The same goes for Bayern, who are led by a new coach. Nevertheless, they are two teams you can never count out. As Liverpool and Roma demonstrated last season and Monaco showed earlier, there are always teams outside the circle of favorites with the potential to shock the world as well. Therefore, this year’s Champions League is a wide-open battle.