The Sunday Mail
The Champions League group stages came to an end in November last year and there were some major shocks and big results. Italian side Napoli mauled six-time European champions Liverpool 4-1 in their opening group fixture, Israeli outfit Maccabi Haifa beat Italian giants Juventus 2-1 and 11-time Spanish champions Atletico Madrid crashed out of Europe following Club Brugge and Porto.
The unpredictability of the Champions League has been ever-present in recent years and is a testament to just how good some of these teams are. These shocks show that there truly is no such thing as an ‘easy game’ and one slip up can be the difference between progression in the tournament and crashing and burning.
With some huge sides already bowing out of the competition and knockout rounds to begin imminently, this year’s tournament is more open than ever. We will be entering the knockout rounds without the likes Atletico, Barcelona, Juventus and Ajax and there are plenty of teams in the frame to lift the big eared trophy. Let’s take a look at some of the sports betting favourites for this years famed competition.
Manchester City
Over the course of the last six-or-so years, Pep Guardiola has assembled the strongest team the Premier League has ever seen and arguably one of the strongest of all time across Europe. However, despite their major domestic success, the champions league trophy has so far eluded them despite boasting maybe the best coach in world football and the team to boot. City got through the group stages relatively easily aside from a 0-0 draw with bottom placed Copehagen. They currently find themselves second in the Premier League, five points off leaders Arsenal but with plenty of football still to play. They have a ridiculously talented team full of world class players like Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland. The latter has already netted five goals throughout the tournament as well as 25 league goals in just 20 appearances. With seemingly everything in their favor this year, it seems that the only people who stand in front of them are themselves and must show great character to go alongside their evident talent.
Bayern Munich
German giants Bayern Munich will be vying for their seventh European cup this season and look in great shape to do just that. They blitzed through the group stages and were the only team to win all six of their games to qualify for the knockout rounds. This included two wins over each of Inter Milan and Barcelona, scoring 18 goals and conceding just two throughout their group fixtures. Despite losing star striker Robert Lewandowski last summer to group rivals Barca, it has been business as usual at the Allianz Arena. They recruited the likes of Sadio Mane, Ryan Gravenberch and Matthijs De Ligt and currently sit top of the Bundesliga table. The German side’s uber talented squad should be more than enough to see them beyond at least the Quarter Finals and at 35-years-old, Julian Nagelsmann may well become the youngest manager to ever win the tournament.
Paris Saint Germain
Another team to have never won the Champions League, like City PSG have also struggled in the tournament despite their domestic success. The French side have ended eight of the last nine Ligue 1 seasons as champions but have only managed to appear in one Champions League final in their history, a losing effort in 2019/20 to Bayern. The French champions won all but two of their group games, drawing twice with eventual group winners Benfica. Star-man Kylian Mbappe currently tops the scoring rankings in the tournament with seven goals and with Lionel Messi and Neymar alongside him, Les Parisiens boast arguably the most fearsome attacking line in the world. They do have a tough draw in the round of 16 in what will be a rematch of the 19/20 final against Bayern.
Napoli
This would have been a surprising addition to this list at the beginning of the season but Napoli’s form in all competitions this year has been nothing short of astounding. The Parthenopeans currently find themselves 13-points clear at the top of Serie A, losing just three games in all competitions so far. The performances of Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia have propelled Luciano Spaletti’s frontline. They have 36 goals and assists between them in their combined 34 games in Serie A though Giacomo Raspadori and Giovanni Simeone lead their European scoring charts with four a piece. This just shows that it is not just lightning in a bottle and they do in fact have great strength in depth. Though winning Serie A would be an achievement in and of itself, to lift both major trophies would be a true fairytale ending for Napoli.
