The Favourites For The 2023-24 Champions League

The 2023-24 European football season is rapidly approaching and one of the biggest talking points ahead of kick-off is who is going to be crowned the winners of the Champions League. Manchester City earned their first title at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium back in June, but the European Cup is fiercely competitive and all the top sides on the continent will have their sights set on winning it.

That said, let’s take at the Champions League odds and assess the top five teams in the market.

Manchester City – 2/1

It’ll come as no surprise that the defending title holders Manchester City are the 2/1 favourites to retain the big-eared trophy. Pep Guardiola’s men finally lifted the burden of never winning the European Cup from their shoulders last year with a victory over Inter Milan in Istanbul and now they have removed the pressure, Man City could kick on and conquer Europe for years to come.

Bayern Munich – 7/1

Perhaps not the side many would have expected to see as the second favourites to win the Champions League this season, Bayern Munich last won the title with a 1-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain behind closed doors in Portugal in 2019-20.

However, the Bundesliga side haven’t progressed beyond the quarter-finals since. The loss of the prolific Robert Lewandowski last summer was a big blow. But if Thomas Tuchel brings in Harry Kane, Bayern could be a major threat once again.

Related: Messi Wins Champions League Goal Of The Tournament

Real Madrid – 17/2

A team you can never rule out when it comes to the Champions League, Real Madrid are always a danger in Europe and they have proved that in recent seasons — reaching the semi-finals either side of a 14^th title success in the last three years, beating Liverpool 1-0 at the Stade de France in 2022.

Los Blancos have strengthened their midfield with the signing of young England star Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund and they could replace talisman Karim Benzema with World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe — which would surely see their bet on football odds slashed from 17/2.

Arsenal – 11/1

While the aforementioned sides are often amongst the favourites for the Champions League each year, Arsenal are a side not many might have expected to be fourth in this list. This is the first time in six seasons that the Gunners will play in Europe’s premier club competition and they will be hoping to go far after missing out for such a long period of time.

Mikel Arteta has been given the financial backing to improve his squad yet again this summer and has spent over £200 million on Kai Havertz, Jurrien Timber and Declan Rice. It still isn’t a roster that screams potential Champions League winners, but they were surprise title challengers last season so they could be capable of another shock.

Barcelona – 12/1

Another European giant who haven’t had much luck in the Champions League recently, Barcelona have failed to progress from the group stage for the last two years in succession and haven’t gone further than the quarter-finals since 2019. It has also been eight years since the Catalan side won the competition, a record Xavi would like to end.

The return of Barca legend Lionel Messi would have been a big boost for the side going into next season, but they couldn’t sort out their finances and the Argentine ultimately went to Inter Miami. The arrival of Ilkay Gundogan from Man City will strengthen their midfield, but Barca arguably don’t have the squad to compete for the Champions League.