The Champions League returns this week with the start of the group stages, and Real Madrid have been installed as the favourites to retain the trophy, and win an unprecedented eleventh Champions League/European Cup.
Madrid are already top of the list of winners, and are widely regarded as having the strongest squad in Europe this season. Players of the ability of Gareth Bale aren’t even assured of a starting place such is the current strength in depth of Madrid.
The best price on Madrid lifting the Champions League title again this season is 4/1 (prices correct at time of writing), that price is available with Coral, Betway, Betfair, Betfred, Betvictor and Skybet, all of whom have welcome offers available on our free bets page.
In top scorer betting, it will come as no surprise to see Cristiano Ronaldo is favourite to hit the back of the net the most times this season in the Champions League, the Portuguese is a best price of 5/1 with Skybet.
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Real Madrid find themselves grouped with Tottenham Hotspur, Borussia Dortmund and Apoel FC in Group H, they are 4/11 favourites to top their group, with Dortmund at 4/1, Spurs at 5/1, and Apoel at a massive 275/1.
Other front runners in the Champions League betting are big spending Paris St Germain (PSG), Barcelona and Bayern Munich, who all find themselves at around 6/1 to 7/1, depending on which bookmaker you are using.
PSG made the big move of the summer by tempting Neymar from Barcelona in a world record deal, and this was clearly done in an attempt to become the new powerhouse of European football. Will it be enough to get them over the line in the Champions League? Only time will tell, but as it stands, I can still see the likes of Bayern and Real being too strong for the Parisians.
Of the English contingent, the two Manchester clubs can be backed at between 9/1 and 12/1, while Chelsea are between 14/1 and 18/1. Liverpool are next at around 22/1, and making up the last of the unprecedented five, Tottenham are around 40/1.
The reason why there is 5 English clubs in this season’s competition is because Manchester United qualified by winning the Europa League last season (the first time that the Europa League winners have qualified for the Champions League), and they joined the top 4 from last season’s Premier League in the main draw.