Last Year's Champions League Winner Has The Fourth-Best Odds To Repeat

Welcome to our new subscribers, Warren and Cooper. Thank you guys for joining us!

Champions League Is Back

Of the final four teams in last year’s competition, it was the two English clubs who ultimately met in the Finals

• Man City beat PSG, 4-1 aggregate

• Chelsea beat Real Madrid, 3-1 aggregate

• Chelsea beat Man City, 1-0

French GK Édouard Mendy shutout Man City, and Kai Havertz scored the games only goal in the 42nd minute. The win gave Chelsea their second Champions League title in the club’s history

Quick Recap: Tournament Format

The Champions League format is extremely complicated, and impressively organized. Here’s what you need to know

• The best European Leagues get the most automatic bids

• For example, the top four regular season teams from the Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 automatically qualify

• Smaller leagues, like Portugal’s Primeira Liga, only receive 1-2 auto-qualifiers

• A smaller qualifying tournament is held to fill the remaining 4-6 spots

Once the 32 teams field is set, teams are randomly divided into eight groups of four. No group will have multiple teams from the same league

A home and away game is played against each team in your group, with the top two teams advancing to the knock-out stage. Teams advance based on aggregate scores, with the Finals being one game held at a neutral site

The Favorites

Paris Saint Germain: +300

After adding Lionel Messi to an already stacked squad of Mbappe and Neymar, PSG will get its first chance to show off its “Big Three” on a major stage, as they take on Belgium’s Club Brugge today. Few teams can match the French club’s firepower on paper, but PSG has not lived up to expectations in major tournaments. While their favored, they’ve NEVER won a Champions League title…

Manchester City: +350

As one of the favorites to win the Premier League and last year’s Champions League runner-up, Man City has high expectations. Their midfield trio of Kevin De Bruyne, Fernandinho, and Portuguese superstar Bernardo Silva is one of the most dynamic in the game. The constant challenge of playing in the world’s most competitive league will help keep them sharp for mid-week UCL action

Bayern Munich: +700

FC Bayern’s infamously staunch defensive unit is their calling card, but at 33-years-old, Robert Lewandowski can still score as often as anyone in the world. In his last three Champions League seasons, Lewandowski’s has scored 28 goals in 24 appearances. Bayern brought home the trophy in the 2019-20 tournament and are primed for another deep run

The Rest Of The Bunch

It’s tough to bet against Messi, Mbappe and Neymar, but don’t forget about a few of the challengers with longer odds

• Chelsea: +800 (last year’s winners)

• Liverpool: +900 (2019 winners)

• Man United: +1400 (added Ronaldo)

• Real Madrid: +1600

• Barcelona: +2000

After a 13 year hiatus from the Premier League, Ronaldo is back where he made a name for himself and looking to add on to his 86 career goals for Man United. If I had to choose one of these teams to pull it off, I’m obviously putting my money on CR7

The Cheeky Parlay

If you’re looking to get involved in the action today, consider this simple four team moneyline parlay of favorites

• Chelsea to beat Zenit St. Petersburg at home

• Man United to beat Young Boys on the road

• Bayern Munich to beat Barcelona on the road

• Juventus to beat Malmo on the road

• Bet $100, win $370

But remember, if any of these games tie, the parlays loses. There is no extra time in the group stage games, so these four teams have to win outright for us to hit. Don’t forget that when betting on soccer!