The 2019/20 Champions League knockout stages get back underway soon so we thought we’d take a look at who’s in the running to win the trophy next month.
Before we begin, it’s important to remember that this year’s competition will be unique, for obvious reasons, and will be played-out as a mini-tournament in Portugal with the quarter-finals and semis played over just one leg.
Atalanta, Atletico Madrid, Leipzig and Paris Saint-Germain have already booked their place in the quarter-finals but the other four last-16 ties have to be concluded when the tournament gets back underway on August 7th.
Man City favourites
Manchester City are the 3/1 favourites with many american casino sites to win the Champions League this season. Pep Guardiola’s men hold a 2-1 lead over Real Madrid after winning the first leg at the Bernabeu before football was suspended.
If City can finish the job at the Etihad next week, then they’ll face the winner of Juventus and Lyon in the quarter-finals. Lyon currently hold a narrow 1-0 lead but Juve should turn things around at home, setting up a mouth-watering tie with City.
However, despite their ‘favourites’ tag, City will have to win it the hard way after being given a tough route to the final. After finishing the job against Madrid, and possibly meeting Juventus in the quarters, City will likely have to face Bayern Munich or Barcelona in the semis.
So it’s going to be extremely difficult but the bookmakers are still backing Manchester City to go all the way to win the Champions League for the first time in their history.
Bayern also backed
Despite also being in the tough side of the draw, Bayern Munich are the 4/1 second-favourites with the betting companies and online slots providers to win the trophy this season.
The German giants already have one foot in the quarters after thrashing Chelsea 3-0 in the first leg of their last-16 tie and they should face Barcelona in the last-8 providing the Spaniard’s beat Napoli at the Camp Nou. Understandably, Barca are priced out at 9/1 by many bookmakers as they’ve gone off the rails recently and face a difficult route to the final.
PSG a solid bet
Arguably the best bet is to back PSG to win the Champions League this season at odds of 5/1. The Ligue 1 champions have enjoyed a long break after Ligue 1 was cancelled so the players will be well rested and they have been handed the easier side of the draw.
PSG will face Atalanta in the quarter-finals and will be expected to progress to the last-4 where they’ll take on the winner of Leipzig and Atletico Madrid. Those teams are all dangerous on their day but PSG will be quietly confident of making it to the final.
