Champions League Favourites and Group Stages
by Constance Rigot |
Who are the favourites
Real Madrid are clearly the favourites to lift the 63rd European cup. They are the two-time defending champions of 2016 and 2017. They will be the first team ever to claim 3 titles in a row. With the likes of Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema and Modric, their team looks invincible and any team would be afraid to meet them in this competition. With a similar squad to last season, they should walk through teams, like they did with Juventus in the final last season. Their rating to claim a third title in a row is at 15/4 with Bet365. Not a bad rating at all for the favourites!
PSG didn’t have a great season in champions league last year. They lost out to Barcelona in the round of 16. They were leading 4-0 in the first leg but still managed to be knocked out when Barcelona trashed PSG 6-1. Now they have the addition of the most expensive player in the world, Neymar, with also the addition of Mbappé who is a huge young potential. With Draxler, Cavani and Di Maria. PSG are looking like one of the big favourites of the competition. And the bookies think that too, second on their list at 13/2.
Bayern Munich and Barcelona are the bookies next favourites, both rated at 7/1. Barcelona will always be one of the favourites, even with a weaker squad to last year. They have the addition of James Rodriguez from Real Madrid. Plus, with Lewandowski, Robben, Neyer in goals, Muller and Ribery they will be a big threat to other opponents.
The groups
In group A, we have Manchester United. The red devils were lucky with their draw with CSKA Moscow, Basel and Benfica, it will be a surprise if they do not make it out of their group. Group B seems to be the group of death, with the two big favourites PSG and Bayern Munich, with also Anderlecht and Celtic are both strong teams. Who can take top stop? It will be interesting to see. If you fancy Celtic to make an escape out of their group they are rated at 12/1. PSG and Bayern are both rated at 1/25. There should be no surprises here but you never know in football. Another tough group, C has England’s champions Chelsea as well as Atletico Madrid and Roma. If you give Roma any chance of getting out of the group they are rated at 6/5.
In group D we have last year’s finalists Juventus with the big boys Barcelona. Sporting CP and Greek champions Olympiacos. We would be surprised to see Juventus and Barcelona not to make it out of the group, who are both rated at 1/14 and 1/25. It would be a good idea to bet on both odds. Liverpool were lucky with their group, drawing with Sevilla, Spartak Moscow and Maribor. However, the trips to Russia and Slovenia can be very long and Liverpool might struggle over there. Anfield must be at their best to cheer on their team as they will need every point from at home. Sevilla can be a big threat and will feel that they can take top spot. Liverpool are rated at 1/25. Betting on Sevilla at 1/4 is ideal too.
Manchester city have been drawn with Napoli, Feyenoord and Shakhtar Donestsk in group F. Travelling to Ukraine can always be a daunting task so Napoli and City need to be careful. Shakhtar have an interesting rating at 11/4 and it wouldn’t be surprising if they can qualify with a much improving side each year. Group G is one of the most interesting groups with Monaco, Porto, Leipzig and Besiktas drawn together, Monaco would be favourites to top the group but the second spot could be anyone’s. Porto and Leipzig are rated at 5/6, Besiktas at 11/4. This will be hard to call and can go either way. Tottenham Hotspur are drawn in the last group with Cyprus champions APOEL, The favourites Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund. It is an obvious guess to say Real Madrid will qualify what about second spot? Tottenham and Dortmund both have big chances. Tottenham are rated at 5/4 and Dortmund at 8/11. Tottenham have interested odds so it would go a good call to bet on them. Go for it! Anything can happen in the Champions League.
