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Will City succeed in an attempt to repeat or will one of the juggernauts from Germany, Spain, Italy, or France return to the top in 2024?
After years of investment and domestic success, Manchester City finally won the UEFA Champions League last season to wrap up a treble.
This season, the Champions League final will be played at Wembley Stadium in England for the first time since 2013 and as usual, there are questions about which team will end up lifting the trophy with the big ears.
Following City’s first-ever Champions League victory, will Pep Guardiola's team be able to repeat as champions?
Will City succeed in an attempt to repeat or will one of the juggernauts from Germany, Spain, Italy, or France return to the top in 2024?
In this article, we take a look at the top five teams with the best odds from BetKing to win the Champions League before the first round of games start today.
Manchester City
The UEFA Champions League could not have gone any better for Manchester City last season. In the group stage, Manchester City was considered favorites to progress, especially since they were paired with Borussia Dortmund, Sevilla, and Copenhagen in Group G.
With four victories and two draws, they finished the group stage unbeaten with 14 points.
In the knockout stages, Manchester City made their intentions clear, demolishing RB Leipzig in the Round of 16 with an 8-1 aggregate scoreline.
The quarterfinal matchup between Manchester City and Bayern Munich appeared to be evenly matched at first, but the Cityzens ended up cruising to a 4-1 aggregate win.
Since Manchester City failed at the semifinal stage two seasons ago, the matchup against the defending European champions Real Madrid was the true test for them with many expecting Ancelotti’s team to show off their Champions League heritage once again.
The result? Manchester City put on their finest complete performance under Pep Guardiola after a 1-1 draw in the first leg, rendering Real Madrid absolutely powerless and cruising to a 4-0 victory at the Etihad.
And in the final, Manchester City held their nerve to win the champions league for the first time thanks to a lone goal from Rodri, cementing their place in history.
Predictably, all the top betting sites have made it clear that Manchester City are favorites to repeat by valuing the Cityzens with the shortest odds to win the UCL this season and BetKing has provided boosted odds to that end.
Manchester City is priced @ 3.05 to win the UEFA Champions League this season with BetKing.
Bayern Munich
Following their disappointing exit from the Champions League to City last season, Bayern Munich narrowly stole the league title from Borussia Dortmund on the final day of the season, winning on goal difference.
After half a season in charge, Thomas Tuchel finally has the chance to put his imprint on the club and live up to the high standards expected at Bayern.
This steps, steps have been taken to fix that, shown by the acquisition of Harry Kane from Tottenham Hotspurs. Kim Min Jae also joined from Napoli while Raphael Guerreiro and Konrad Laimer were poached away from Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig.
With an opening fixture against a misfiring Manchester United on Wednesday, Bayern Munich have a chance to claim a sizable scalp early and announce their intent to reclaim the trophy they last won in the 2019/2020 season.
BetKing has Bayern Munich priced @ 6.25 to win the UEFA Champions League this season.
Real Madrid
Real Madrid is furiously working to reclaim the title they lost to City in embarrassing fashion last season. However, that could be easier said than done, especially in the light of injuries to key players like Thibaut Courtois and Eder Militao who both suffered season-ending injuries.
The average bettor’s bet prediction does not favor the Lilywhites to win the UCL again this year, but this is a club that can never be counted out, especially in this competition, which they have won more times than any other team.
Despite failing to convince Kylian Mbappe to move to the Santiago Bernabeu in the summer transfer window and losing Karim Benzema to Al Ittihad on a free transfer, the arrivals of Joselu, Francisco Garcia and Brahim Diaz, who have all returned to Madrid, has been a big boost. Their acquisition of Jude Bellingham was a HUGE statement of intent and could end up being the most canny transfer move this summer,; such has been the impact of the young English midfielder. Arda Guler, who moved to the Santiago Bernabeu from Fenerbahçe, also gives them a viable option across the front three when he returns from his meniscus injury.
This is expected to be Carlo Ancelotti’s final season in charge of Real Madrid as the Italian is set to take over as Brazil manager next summer, but he’ll be looking to go out on a high note despite the early setbacks Madrid has settled.
Their first fixture is against Union Berlin, which they’ll be expected to win easily.
Bet on Real Madrid to win the UCL with BetKing@ 8.75.
Arsenal
It’s a bit of a surprise to see Arsenal rated this highly, above Barcelona and PSG, but Mikel Arteta’s men thoroughly merit their spot.
After pushing Manchester City all the way last season only to fall apart a few games to the end of the season, the Gunners will be confident that they’re better equipped to handle the sternest tests out there this season after signing Declan Rice, Kai Havertz, Jurrien Timber and David Raya.
A favorable draw in Group B will also give the Arsenal faithful that, after several days away, they can dare to dream of topping Group B and even possibly winning it all.
If the North London giants can close the gap to Manchester City, the best team in Europe at the moment, this season, then the sky is really the limit for this plucky, young side.
Bet on Bukayo Saka and his teammates to win the UCL this season @ 11.00.
Barcelona
Barcelona won the La Liga title for the first time since 2018–19 last season, as club legend-returned-as-head coach, Xavi inspired his team to a commanding 10-point League win over rivals Real Madrid.
Barcelona had the best defensive record in the top five European leagues last season with an average of just 0.53 goals conceded per game. They only allowed 20 goals as they won their first La Liga since Lionel Messi left the Camp Nou. It was Barcelona’s best La Liga season defensively ever, surpassing even the legendary 2011 and 2015 Champions League-winning sides.
Transfer-wise, Joao Felix, Joan Cancelo, Oriol Romeu, Inigo Martinez, and Ilkay Gundogan have all been excellent additions to the Catalans' squad, allowing them to keep pace with Real Madrid so far.
These arrivals are all canny ones who will be favored to adequately replace players like Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Samuel Umtiti, Nico Gonzalez and Franck Kessie who all left the club this summer.
If they can replicate their defensive performance in their last La Liga campaign in Europe this season, they’ll have a good chance at winning the trophy especially since Robert Lewandowski is still one of the best strikers in world Football.
Last season, Xavi's Barca dominated domestically in Spain, but Xavi will need to strike the proper balance to ensure they can compete at the same levels in Europe.
Barcelona is valued @15.00 to win the UCL this season by BetKing.
Paris Saint-Germain
It was the Footballing equivalent of “the night of the long knives” in Paris as Kylian Mbappe moved to solidify his position over the summer transfer window.
First, influential members of the dressing room like Lionel Messi, Neymar, Sergio Ramos and Marco Verratti departed. Then players like Randal Kolo Muani and Ousmane Dembele joined other summer signings like Lucas Hernandez, Manuel Ugarte, Marco Asensio, Milan Skriniar and Goncalo Ramos.
Last season, Messi led Ligue 1 in assists and Mbappe was their top scorer. The Frenchman is off to a good start this season already, scoring 7 goals in four games but PSG has failed to look cohesive.
Against Borussia Dortmund tonight, they’ll be favorites on paper. But if they fail to win this game, the pressure will intensify on Mbappe and Luis Enrique.
What we know: After reintegrating Mbappe into the squad along with the signing of Randal Kolo Muani and Goncalo Ramos, PSG has arguably attack in the competition this season…at least on paper.
It just remains to be seen how they combine that into a winning combo.
Bet on PSG to win the UCL @ 16.0 despite the internal turmoil they face.
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