We are now up to game week 5 in this year’s UEFA Champions League. Each week, fans have been searching for sports picks on their favored sports betting apps, to see what odds they can get on some of Europe’s best sides taking part in the competition. Let’s look at some of the biggest teams in the tournament this year, to see how far we think they might go.
Just how far can Real Madrid go this season?
No club is more readily associated with European success than Real Madrid. They have won the competition 13 times, 6 more than any other club. Between 2014 and 2018, they won the tournament 4 out of 5 times, which illustrates how utterly dominant they were at that time.
Things have tailed off slightly since then, as they haven’t made it to a final in the last 4 seasons. Despite winning La Liga in 2019/20, they have struggled domestically, as well as in European competition, and haven’t looked like the force they once were.
They have produced some mixed results so far in the group stages; 3 wins is certainly impressive, but they somehow transpired to lose at hope to Moldovan side Sheriff, who had never made it as far as the group stages. They are in pole position to qualify for the last 16, which is usually where they come alive. We expect them to go deep into the competition, even if they might not have quite enough to make it to the final.
Can Xavi rescue Barcelona’s floundering European campaign?
It is fair to say that FC Barcelona are not quite the European soccer powerhouse that they once were. The writing has been on the wall for a while, as rumours spread about just how bad their financial situation was. It all came to a head this summer, when players such as Sergio Aguero, Memphis Depay and Eric Garcia couldn’t be registered by the club, as it would have exceeded their wage bill. Then, the unthinkable happened, as Leo Messi, who had achieved so much with the Catalan club, was forced to leave, as his contract couldn’t be renewed.
Without their talisman, they quickly looked like a shell of their former selves, both in La Liga and in the Champions League. They lost both of their opening two group games, 3-0 to Bayern Munich and Benfica. Since then, Ronald Koeman has been sacked, with former midfielder Xavi Hernandez taking his place.
Xavi was a unique talent during his playing days at Barcelona, winning multiple Champions Leagues, La Liga titles, and other domestic trophies. His number one job is to get the side back to winning ways, especially against Benfica in game week 5, so they can progress through to the knockout stages. Can he take them much further than that? Only time will tell.
Will Bayern make it to this year’s final?
A team who will always appear on people’s list for favourites to win the UEFA Champions League are the German side Bayern Munich. In the Bundesliga, they are rarely challenged by any of the other German sides, and usually have the league title sewn up by February or March. This means they can always fully concentrate on the Champions League, where they often are still going strong at the quarter and semifinals.
They won the tournament as recently as 2020, where they beat Paris Saint Germain 1-0 in the final, with the goal coming from Kingsley Coman, who ironically enough was a PSG reject. Bayern are currently top of Group E, having won all 4 of their games, and given their superior goal difference, it would take a miracle for them not to qualify as group winners.
No-one will want to face Bayern in the knockout stages, as with players like Thomas Muller, Serge Gnabry and Robert Lewandowski in their team, they can beat anyone on the planet. We personally feel they will make it to the final, and would be a match for whoever else joins them.
Can Pep Guardiola finally break his Champions League hoodoo?
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola won the UEFA Champions League twice as Barcelona manager, beating Manchester United each time. However, since he left, he has never been able to repeat this trick, with either his former side Bayern Munich, or his current team Manchester City.
City did make it to the final last year, but partly down to being outplayed by their opponents Chelsea, and partly because Guardiola changed his team too much, they lost 1-0, without ever really looking like scoring.
Pep will try everything to right this wrong this year, and have performed well in the group stages so far. However, we feel they will come unstuck sooner rather than later, and will probably lose before the semifinals.
