Because of a delayed end to the pandemic-hit 2019/20 season, the Champions League returned to entertain football fans across the world faster than usual. As the newseason is well underway, the question rises once again, whowill win the Champions League this season?
Last season, none of the final four contestants were representing the Premier League or La Liga-Europe’s mostfinancially successful domestic leagues, which have millionsof fan following worldwide. What does the gala event of European club football have in store for us this time around?
What Do Bookies Say?
Before the start of the tournament, Manchester City and Bayern Munich were the most favoured team by bookmakers. Both teams had 4/1 odds of winning the trophy going into thisseason. Liverpool are the closest with 11/2 odds.
Champions League estimations from prominent data analysiswebsite 538 echo the gambling world’s anticipations. 538 foresees a 21% probability of Bayern Munich becoming only the second club in history to win back-to-back Champions Leagues.
Manchester City came second in 538’s predictions with a 16% possibility of winning the Champions League for the first time in their history. Their manager Pep Guardiola had won thetrophy with Barcelona before, but he is yet to repeat that featwith any other club.
Who’s Our Pick?
We are backing Bayern Munich to win the Champions League again as well. Apart from a surprise 4-1 thrashing toHoffenheim, Hansi Flick’s men have shown no signs of losingtheir brilliant last season form. They are topping theBundesliga table as expected, with 5 wins and 1 loss.
The Bavarians have started their Champions League campaignemphatically as well. In their first match, they blasted 4 goalspast a resolute Atletico Madrid defence. Then, they picked upa 2-1 away win at Spartak Moscow before demolishing RB Leipzig 6-2.
Bayern has lost their midfield general Thiago to Liverpool in the summer, but they replenished their already formidable squad with the likes of Leroy Sane, Marc Roca, and broughtback Douglas Costa to the club for a second spell.
We should also point out that Manchester City, who are tippedto be Bayern’s biggest threat to retaining their European throne, has had a difficult start to their domestic leaguecampaign. They did alright in Europe so far, but their leagueform doesn’t make us overly enthusiastic.
Real Madrid had to wait till their third match to pick up a winin the Champion’s League after beating Inter Milan 3-2. But, the lack of attacking options up front makes it harder for themto challenge this season. Koeman’s Barcelona didn’t give usany reason to become hyped too.
With Cristiano Ronaldo at their folds, you can’t rule out Juventus mounting a serious title challenge in Europe. But, on paper, they lack the steel in midfield to do so. Liverpool lost their defensive core as Virgil Van Dijk got injured for theseason. So, Bayern seems to be the obvious pick.
