UEFA Champions League is the most prominent competition in the world. The teams from the old continent are about to compete for the title which will determine who is the best European team for that particular season. A couple of decades ago, this tournament was under a different name, and it gathered only the winners of national championships.
Around two decades ago, this competition has been expanded, and we can now see that certain leagues provide more than just one club. The league’s coefficient determines how many teams will enter the continental championship. The most prestigious leagues on the old continent provide at least four teams.
As is the case with any other football championship in the old continent, it represents a great chance to place a bet a couple of times and win some profits from it. As we know, there are numerous sites out there that offer this possibility to their visitors. If you are interested in some other gambling games, be sure to visit slot machines in Uganda.
Now that we are on the topic of this continental tournament, let’s check out the favorites for this season.
Pre-Season Estimates
Even though there are teams who are much more experienced in winning these titles, we can all agree that Manchester City is a team that is predicted to win it this season. So far, they weren’t able to win any continental tournaments, but this year, their competition is significantly weaker.
Pretty much the only three teams that can prevent them from doing so are Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, and Real Madrid. Bayern Munich and Real Madrid have a lot of tradition in this competition and they have won it on numerous occasions. PSG hasn’t been able to do it so far, but since their team is among the strongest, they are always favorites.
For other teams with chances of winning it, we would want to point out Liverpool, Barcelona, and Chelsea. Liverpool hasn’t started properly this season, and they have suffered numerous losses both in the EPL and in the national league.
Barcelona is a team that has experienced numerous problems, mainly financial ones. Also, they are rebuilding their teams for the last couple of years. Nevertheless, they have a lot of experience, so they may cause some surprises down the road. Lastly, Chelsea always tends to surprise its opponents, like when they won the championship two seasons ago.
Group Stage
Since we are already in October, we can see that some teams have already been successful in qualifying for the knockout rounds. Among the teams who have done it swiftly is Napoli. Even though it competes with household names like Liverpool, Ajax, and Rangers, they have been able to win in the first four matches.
In the first match, they surprisingly won against Liverpool 4:1. By the looks of it, Liverpool will also qualify for the knockout round while Ajax will move to the Europa League. Group B is particularly interesting. It consists of Porto, Atletico Madid, Bayern Leverkusen, and Club Brugge.
After four matches, Club Brugge holds the prime spot with ten points. It is followed by Porto, and Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid are fourth and third. In Group C, Bayer won all the matches. Inter is second with seven points, Barcelona is third with four points, and Viktoria Plzen hasn’t been able to gather any points so far.
Group D had some interesting matches so far. We can see that Tottenham has the most points, and Marseille, Sporting, and Eintracht Frankfurt are competing for second place. However, all the teams are close to achieving first place and advancing to the next stages, and it remains to be seen who will be the most successful.
Chelsea, Salzburg, AC Milan, and Dinamo Zagreb are all members of Group E. We can say that this group has caused the most surprises so far. For instance, Dinamo Zagreb beat Chelsea in the first round. Also, Salzburg managed not to be beaten by AC Milan. Therefore, the situation is pretty steep to this day, and we are yet to see the outcome.
Real Madrid is leading the group F with ten points so far. Also, RB Leipzig holds second place right now. Shakhtar, with its five points, is in third place while Celtic is in fourth place with only one point so far after they managed to get a draw with Shakhtar in an away game.
Manchester City, as the favorite, has been showing their strength so far. They have won all matches and had one draw. Their competition is pretty strong when you know that teams like Sevilla and Borussia Dortmund have been able to reach the final of this competition on numerous occasions. The fourth team in the group is FC Kopenhagen, who managed to draw in two matches so far.
Last but not least, Group H, with PSG, Benfica, Juventus, and Maccabi Haifa. All the teams are among the most prominent in their respective leagues. PSG and Benfica are leading the way with eight points while Juventus and Maccabi weren’t so successful so far, with only winning against each other one time.
The Current Situation
If you take a look at the situation right now, you will see that Manchester City is the team that has managed to prove they are ready to win the competition finals. They are the strongest team by far on the continent. When it comes to other favorites, only Bayern Munich was able to confirm its quality.
One major surprise is Napoli, who managed to beat Liverpool and not lose any single game in their group. Also, they are first in their national league at the moment, and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be one of the surprises that occurs this season.
In Conclusion
The current season is going to be one of the strangest seasons yet since the World Cup is going to occur in December. Therefore, we can expect many surprises. Nevertheless, Manchester City is still the number of favorite for winning the title.
