The League Phase for the 2025 season of Champions League is set to start on Tuesday, September 16. PSG are the defending champions from last season, but they are not the favorite coming into the competition. There has been a different winner of the competition in each of the last 3 seasons and there has only been 1 repeat winner in the last 7 seasons as well. Now with the League Phase just around the corner, it is time to see who has the best chance at taking home the Champions League Title.
To Win Outright
Liverpool +600: Liverpool is coming into this competition as the team with the best chance at winning the title this season according to the oddsmakers. Liverpool is coming off of a great season as they won the Premier League Title and they are once again one of the better teams in England this season. They have a very potent attack with plenty of quality, but their defense certainly has some holes that the elite teams in Europe can exploit. They have won Champions League once in the past 7 seasons, but they have struggled a lot in this competition trying to get back to that glory. Even last season, they won the League Phase with a 7-0-1 record, but got knocked out in the Round of 16 by the eventual champions PSG. Liverpool has the quality to compete with the other elite teams in Europe and they can certainly make a deep run here, but their defense needs to make some major improvements before they can truly be a contender to lift the trophy. They will eventually run into a team that gets the better of that defense so there is not a lot of value here taking them as the favorite to win the competition. Liverpool at +600 is not a great option to win the title this season.
Barcelona +600: Barcelona is coming into this competition as the team with the best chance at winning the title this season according to the oddsmakers. Barcelona has not been great in Champions League in recent years, but they have been building a great squad and reclaimed their dominance in Spain last season. They won the La Liga Title last year and also had the best defense as well as the best attack in Spain, scoring 102 goals and allowing 39 goals in their 38 matches. They were very good in the League Phase of Champions League last season as well, finishing in 2nd place with a 6-1-1 record. They once again have the quality to be the best team in Spain this season, but they will certainly be turning more focus to this competition after winning La Liga last season. They made a very deep run in the tournament last season as well, losing in the Semifinals to Inter Milan, but this could be their year. The team still has a lot of the quality that made them so good last season and they have a lot of young talent as well that is only going to grow together throughout the season. Barcelona is going to be a true threat in this competition this year with that potent attack that can score their way out of trouble, but they also have a very good defense to lean on that can win them tight matches as well. Barcelona at +600 has some value to win the title this season.
Paris Saint-Germain +650: PSG is coming into this competition as the team with the next best chance at winning the title this season according to the oddsmakers. PSG is coming off of a great season as they won the Ligue 1 Title and also won the Champions League Title. They were truly the most dominant team in Europe toward the end of the season last year with the way they were beating teams, but that is going to be tough to do again this season. It took a lot out of them to play that well in both competitions and even with a great start to the season this year, that is going to weigh on them as the season goes on. They also played in the Club World Cup in the summer and made a very deep run, going all the way to the Final, but they lost to Chelsea in the end so that was another grueling tournament for them to go through after a long season already and it ended in disappointment. They did not get a lot of rest in the summer either so PSG could very well be a team that starts strong and fizzles out later in the season as everything starts to take a toll on them. PSG is also going to have a big target on their back as the defending champions so every match they play will be tough as they will be getting full effort from their opponents. There is no real value in PSG at +650 to repeat as champions this season.
Arsenal +700: Arsenal is coming into this competition as the team with the next best chance at winning the title this season according to the oddsmakers. Arsenal is coming off of a great season as they finished 2nd place in the Premier League last year, but that story is starting to get old for this club. They have been one of the better teams in England over the last 3 years, yet they continue to fall short in the matches that matter most down the stretch. They finished in 2nd place last season, but they were still 10 points behind the leader. They also made a very deep run in Champions League last season as they lost in the Semifinals to PSG, the eventual champions, and they continue to be a team that keeps coming up short in these competitions. They have improved their team once again this season and they have a much better defense now. They certainly have a defense that can carry them through this competition, but there is not a lot of value in them at this price considering how they have not shown that they can get over the hump in any competitions. It will also be tough for them to fully focus on this competition if they are still in the race for the Premier League Title as well. Arsenal certainly has the quality to win Champions League this season, but there is not enough value at this price to get behind them as they always fall short in big matches.
Real Madrid +800: Real Madrid is coming into this competition as the team with the next best chance at winning the title this season according to the oddsmakers. Real Madrid has done very well in this competition over the years and they are actually the only repeat champion in the last 7 seasons. They are coming off of a good season, but they finished in 2nd place in La Liga as they were not the most dominant team in Spain. They are off to a great start in the league this season and they have a lot of quality in their squad, but they have struggled in these competitions despite all of the talent they have. They were in the Club World Cup over the summer and fell short in that competition. They did not make a deep run in Champions League last season either, getting knocked out by Arsenal in the Quarterfinals and struggling to make it out of the League Phase as well. They are going to be focused on this competition after a trophyless season, but they will also be focused on La Liga as well. Real Madrid certainly has the quality to go far in this competition, but they have not been able to put together consistent runs on the pitch with this rebuilt team and until they show it this season, there are better options to win this competition. Real Madrid at +800 is not the best option to win Champions League this season.
Manchester City +900: Man City is coming into this competition as the team with the next best chance at winning the title this season according to the oddsmakers. Man City is coming off of a good season, but it was not a great season by their standards. They finished in 3rd place and for the first time in a while, they were not the dominant force in the Premier League. They fizzled out of Champions League very early as well, losing to Real Madrid in the qualifying matches right after the League Phase, and they have been regressing a lot over the last year. They have lost a lot of the quality that made them so dominant over the last few years and they have tried to replace it, but the team is just not as good anymore. They are still a very good club that has the potential to go deep in this competition, but they do not have the quality to compete with some of the elite clubs in Europe. Consistency has been a big problem for this new look Man City team as well. Even in the Club World Cup during the summer, they showed flashes of greatness and dominance in the group stage, but then they showed their true colors as the tournament went on. Man City is not going to be a true threat to win this competition this season. There is no real value in Man City at +900 to win Champions League this season.
Bayern Munich +1200: Bayern Munich is coming into this competition as the team with the next best chance at winning the title this season according to the oddsmakers. Bayern is coming off of a great season as they reclaimed the Bundesliga Title after finishing in 3rd the year prior. They were the best team in Germany by 13 points and also had the best attack as well as the best defense. Their defense was great in the Bundesliga, but it did not hold up well when playing against strong opponents from different leagues. Their defense was exposed in Champions League last season by Inter Milan in the Quarterfinals when Bayern allowed 4 goals in 2 legs to them, and this has been an ongoing problem for Bayern for years. Bayern has a very potent attack that can find the net against very good defenses, but they will struggle to score their way out of matches against other teams with good attacks. Defense has been their biggest crutch over the years and that is going to be their biggest hurdle to jump over in this competition. This problem also came up in the summer time when they were in the Club World Cup as their defense struggled against other elite clubs in Flamengo and PSG. Bayern still has the quality to make a deep run in this tournament, but they will eventually run into a better team as they do not have the defense to win this competition. There is not enough value in Bayern Munich at +1200 to win Champions League this season.
Chelsea +1200: Chelsea is coming into this competition as the team with the next best chance at winning the title this season according to the oddsmakers. Chelsea is coming off of a great season and they have been building a very good team with a lot of quality over the last 2 years. They continue to get better in every match they play and they have been in great form over the last 6 months. They did not have the best Premier League season as they only finished in 4th place, but they still came away with plenty of trophies. They won the Conference League which was a big step for them considering where they have been the last few years, and they followed that up with a Club World Cup win the summer. It was a very long season for them to win the Conference League and still perform so well in the Premier League, but they were also facing much weaker competition in the Conference League so it was not nearly as tough as going deep in Champions League. Chelsea is off to another great start to the season now and they have a lot of momentum behind their backs from the end of last season. They have also shown that they can win matches in very different ways as they can be dominant with the ball, but also play the counter. Chelsea is going to be focused on this competition after beating the Champions League champions from last season in the Club World Cup Final, and they have the quality to truly be a threat as they continue to improve on the pitch. There is some good value in Chelsea at +1200 to win Champions League this season.
Inter Milan +2500: Inter Milan is coming into this competition as the team with the next best chance at winning the title this season according to the oddsmakers. Inter Milan is coming off of a very good season, but they fell short in every competition and now they are going through a lot of changes this year. They ended up losing in the Coppa Italia Semifinals to their bitter rival AC Milan, and they fell short in Serie A as they blew their chance to win the title over Napoli in the final matches of the season. They also went all the way to the Champions League Final, getting obliterated by PSG, and followed that up with a very poor performance in the Club World Cup. They still have a lot of the quality from last season, but they are under new management now and they are still trying to figure things out. They have always been known for good defense, but that has changed under this new manager as their defense has been conceding quite a few goals, and they are not off to a good start in Serie A either. This is not a good year for Inter Milan as they are going through a bit of a rebuild with the identity of the team changing. There is no real value in Inter Milan at +2500 to win Champions League this season.
RecommendationThere is plenty of value to be had with the start of the 2025 season for Champions League. There is no real clear favorite to win it all as there are plenty of quality clubs in Europe who have the potential. Two teams stick out as teams with a lot of value though. Barcelona at +600 is a great option to win Champions League as they are coming off of a La Liga Title win and have been building toward this over the last 3 years. Chelsea at +1200 is another team with a lot of value as a dark horse since they are the current World Champions and are continuing to improve. Barcelona at +600 and Chelsea at +1200 are the two best options to win the Champions League Title this season.
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