UEFA Champions League Champions: An Outright Betting Preview!

/ 7:34 AM GMT • 14th August, 2023

5 minutes

Here at betting.bet we’ll take a closer look at the sides at the head of the outright betting market, providing the best Champions League odds from our partners at BoyleSports. Get the latest betting tips, odds and free bets right here at betting.bet!

The UEFA Champions League remains the biggest prize in club football and the 2023/24 edition of the famous competition looks set to be hugely competitive. The tournament remains the holy grail for clubs throughout Europe and there are several teams with real aspirations of winning this season’s competition. Here at betting.bet we’ll take a closer look at the sides at the head of the outright betting market, providing the best Champions League odds from our partners at BoyleSports.

2022/23 Recap

Manchester City won their first ever Champions League title last to complete a superb treble. The champions defeated Italian giants, Inter Milan in the final, winning 1-0 in Istanbul. Manchester City went through the entire tournament unbeaten and eliminated RB Leipzig, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid en route to the final.

Inter Milan defeated Portuguese clubs, Porto and Benfica before winning both legs of their all-Milan semi-final against fierce rivals, AC Milan.

Manchester City Still the Team to Beat

Last season’s treble winners, Manchester City will once again be the team to beat in the new campaign. Pep Guardiola’s side kicked off the new season with a comfortable 3-0 win away at Burnley in the Premier League and in Erling Haaland they possess arguably the most potent centre forward in world football.

Haaland scored 12 goals en route to the Golden Boot in last season’s competition and you feel he could hold the key to Manchester City’s hopes of winning a second successive UEFA Champions League title.

However, Real Madrid’s three consecutive wins between 2016 and 2018 remain the only instance of a club defending their title since AC Milan won the old European Cup in 1989 and 1990.

Harry Kane and Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich were beaten home and away by Manchester City in last season’s quarter-final however after a busy summer transfer window, they’re likely to be a real force this season. The German giants have bolstered their squad with some real smart acquisitions. New £50m man, Min-jae Kim was voted Serie A’s best defender as he helped guide Napoli to a first Scudetto since 1990. Konrad Laimer and Raphael Guerreiro have joined on free transfers from Bundesliga rivals, RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund respectively.

The jewel in the Bayern Munich crown is the signing of England captain, Harry Kane. Kane is a proven goalscorer and finally fill the void left when Robert Lewandowski moved to Barcelona twelve months ago.

New-look Real Madrid and PSG

14-time Champions League winners, Real Madrid have undergone a complete squad rebuild over the past couple of seasons. Only a handful of players remain from the squad that claimed four Champions League titles in five years between 2014 and 2018 and those that are still there are undoubtedly past their best.

Real Madrid’s exciting young squad is starting to take shape with the likes of Vinicius Junior, Eduardo Camavinga and Federico Valverde now key players for Carlo Ancelotti’s side. The signing of Jude Bellingham could prove a fantastic piece of business but we are concerned about the void left up front by Karim Benzema’s departure.

Benzema’s long-term replacement is expected to be French teammate, Kylian Mbappe. The PSG forward can leave on free next summer as his contract nears an end. However, for now, Mbappe remains at Paris Saint-Germain.

Mbappe is now undoubtedly the star attraction at PSG following the departures of Lionel Messi and Neymar. Despite the loss of Messi and Neymar, PSG’s squad look’s arguably stronger having forked out in excess of £200m this summer on the likes of Manuel Ugarte, Ousmane Dembele, Lucas Hernandez and Kang-in Lee. Milan Skriniar and Marco Asensio have both sign for PSG on free transfers.

Gonçalo Ramos has initially signed for PSG on loan and the Portuguese international could be a big player for the French champions this season.

Competition Dark Horses

Real Madrid are not the only Spanish club to have assembled an exciting new squad over the past couple of years; fierce rivals Barcelona look well-prepared to bounce back from last season’s disappointing performance. The three-time winners were eliminated at the group stage last season but the likes of Ronald Araujo, Gavi and Pedri form the foundations of a strong looking Barcelona squad. Robert Lewandowski remains a big goal threat whilst the addition of experienced midfielder, Ilkay Gundogan could prove a masterstroke.

Arsenal return to the Champions League for the first time since the 2016/17 after running Manchester City incredibly close in last season’s Premier League title race. The Gunners have built an exciting young side that are more than capable of going deep into this season’s competition. Summer signing, Kai Havertz scored the winning goal for Chelsea in the 2020/21 final.

Napoli were many people’s dark horses in last season’s UEFA Champions League but they were eliminated in underwhelming fashion, losing 2-1 to Milan in their all-Italian quarter-final. The loss of Bayern Munich-bound Min-jae Kim is a blow but Napoli fans will be delighted to see both Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia remain at the club. The summer acquisitions of Giovanni Simeone and Giacomo Raspadori further enhance their attacking potency whilst Natan could prove an excellent replacement for Min-jae Kim.

UEFA Champions League Outright Odds

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