the champions league may be hibernating until february, but this seems like the perfect time to cast an eye towards the future winners of the competition. with the last 16 draw done and dusted, we’re taking a look towards the next round of ties and the betting odds for the outright winner of the european cup. before you go backing psg or man city for glory, take a look at our champions league winner odds comparison and predictions below.
the last 16 of the champions league is routinely a meeting place for familiar foes, but part of this season’s intrigue is that there are three completely new match-ups. tottenham’s meeting with juventus among those, and this first competitive clash between the pair should be a great test for both. spurs can be confident having beaten the current holders real madrid, and they should be able to pull off something similar against last season’s runners-up. will this be yet another big european scalp for spurs?
while this contest is new, there is previous between juve boss max allegri and tottenham. he was the ac milan manager when peter crouch’s san siro winner knocked the rossoneri out of the champions league, a feat they could match this term. having caused problems for both real madrid and borussia dortmund in the group, we expect spurs to hurt juve in this last 16 tie. mauricio pochettino’s side deserved more than a point at the bernabeu, while they beat dortmund home and away. we can see them sneaking a narrow win in turin on top of that. spurs are 16/5 with betfair to win in the first leg according to our odds comparison, while we’re backing them to qualify at 5/4 with betvictor.
liverpool managed to finish top of their group, and they were one of the few sides who were rewarded for that as they drew porto. while the 2004 winners do have a long history in europe, this is far from a vintage side. the portuguese outfit struggled to match besiktas in the group, and they were forced to wait until the final game to qualify.
we can’t see porto proving to be much of a threat to liverpool, with the reds packing a searing forward line. jurgen klopp’s men have plenty of qualities which could see them succeed in europe. they have counter attacking speed and guile, they just need to tighten things up at the back. we’re backing them to make it through this tie, they’re best priced at 2/5 with ladbrokes on our odds comparison. we’re also backing over 1.5 liverpool goals in the away leg at 11/10 with 888sport.
the tie of the round is easily real madrid’s meeting with psg. the holders are up against the side who had one of the most impressive group stage campaigns in the competition’s history. the french giants are expected to be among the challengers, while real have won three of the last four editions of this competition. one of those big guns won’t make it past march in europe – will this be another big collapse against spanish opposition for the parisians?
real have had some big defensive issues this season, and they were routinely torn apart against their group stage opponents. having seen a 3-2 thriller against a poor dortmund team, we expect a high scoring affair when neymar returns to spain. the french champions have easily got the most impressive forward line in world football – a title real madrid once laid claim to.
while los blancos still have some impressive attacking options, we expect them to fall short in this tie. we’re backing over 3.5 goals in the first leg, which is great value at 6/4 with 888sport on our odds comparison. we’re also siding with psg to qualify at 3/4 with betvictor.
chelsea and barcelona renew a rivalry that has grown in the 21st century, with the blues falling short in the group stage and landing the catalans. pairing them against barca should make for entertaining viewing, as clashes between them are usually quite fiery. that adds even more pressure on to the shoulders of antonio conte, who has a poor record in europe as a manager.
conte failed to guide his juventus side out of the group just 18 months before max allegri took them to the final. his spell in italy saw the old lady fall short on the continent, while the blues haven’t helped matters after poor results at home to atletico madrid and against roma in the group stage. with that in mind, we see barca coming out on top, so we’re backing them at 4/11 with betvictor to qualify for the next round, while our odds comparison makes them heavy favourites to win the first leg in london, as they’re best priced at 26/19 with ladbrokes.
manchester united have been handed a pretty straightforward draw in the last 16, leaving them as heavy favourites to make it through to the quarter-finals. the red devils are 1/3 with coral to see off sevilla in the next round, after the spanish side picked up two high scoring draws against liverpool in the group stage. however, they were allowed back into those games by lax defending on both occasions, and you can bet united won’t do the same in the knockout rounds. these are the kind of games jose mourinho knows how to win, and we think his side are overpriced to win to nil in seville, which can be found at 31/10 with betvictor on our odds comparison.
now that we have the last 16 line-up and the draw, the potential winners of the competition are starting to become a little clearer. man city and psg have been the teams to beat so far, as we’ve seen the balance of power shifting in europe. while real madrid and barcelona have dominated of late, they aren’t among the top three favourites as far as the bookies are concerned.
man city have been made 16/5 favourites with betfair, a move which has highlighted the improved stature of the premier league side in europe. while chelsea have drifted out to 28/1 with betfred to become the most unfancied english side in the competition, the other sides all seem like they can yet make an impact. with real and psg meeting at this relatively early stage, we feel like city’s biggest challenge could come from elsewhere, and we’re not talking about the third-favourites bayern, who seem too short at 9/2 with ladbrokes.
this year’s competition could end up becoming jose mourinho’s revenge on pep guardiola, as his united team are likely to prioritise europe given how the premier league title race is going. united are basically assured of a place in the next round, while they have the organisation to go far in europe. mourinho must be desperate to return to the top of european football with united, who have now gone 10 years without winning this trophy.
we think united’s price of 15/1 with 888sport is too big for a side who could have little else to play for, with a last eight place basically theirs. they also have a european trophy under their arm already, and mourinho has already once guided a side from uefa cup glory to a champions league triumph. we’re backing him to build on last season’s europa league success, which would really steal city’s thunder.