UEFA Champions League 2019-20 is already underway with PSG, Bayern, Man City, Lokomotiv Moscow and the likes leading their respective groups. While plenty can happen between now and the final match scheduled for May 30, conclusions can already be drawn based on how teams have been playing in their domestic leagues.
Going by the Champions League odds offered by reputed bookmakers like Bet365, Bodog, Spin Sports etc., Manchester City, Liverpool and Barcelona are the top 3 teams which stand out from the rest, going at odds of 10/3, 13/2 and 11/2 respectively to win the League, at the time of writing this piece. Let’s talk a bit more about these teams and their chances below.
Manchester City
The Manchester City ownership are pretty desperate to win the Champions League right now. While it’s not everything that matters to them, it is the number one priority for their team. Being the first-ever $ 1 billion football team in the world, City boasts of the most complete squad in all of the football leagues as of now. What is really working for them is that they spent that $ 1 billion pretty wisely. Their squad is so deep that even the loss of someone like Aymeric Laporte will affect their game against teams with big-time offensive players, such as Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Liverpool. Their championship chances won’t be dampened unless more players like Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero and/or Kevin de Bruyne also get injured, which is unlikely to happen. Don’t feel too bad for them, though. Here’s a tool that lets you know how long it would take an a-list player like David de Gea to earn your annual salary.
Liverpool
They won the Champions League last year and made it to the final the year before that. In the EPL, Liverpool only lost one game in the entire season last year. They are yet to lose a game this season as well. Regardless of all that, Liverpool stand as third-best favourites to win the Championship League this time.
Everyone knows that making it three UCL finals straight is extremely difficult and winning two in succession is even harder. However, Real Madrid have done it, so why can’t Liverpool? While Manchester City may have all the talent in the world, more than any other football club in the world, when it comes to Liverpool, they have the best starting 11 and the most cohesive unit. Ask any successful team and they will tell you that once you learn how to win, winning becomes easier. For truly great teams, it becomes a habit. And that’s where Liverpool stand today.
Barcelona
It is well evident that Barcelona don’t perform that well without Messi. They are sitting at 5th position in La Liga right now and have a pretty difficult group in Champions League. However, once Messi is fully fit by October this year, Barcelona does have the required talent to make a solid return and win their first UCL title since 2015. They are a deadly team when it comes to offense. Watching players like Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann and Frankie de Jong carve up the teams is nothing short of exhilarating. But their defense is vulnerable and that’s where they need to focus. A little luck can definitely see them take it all the way!
