The 2016/2017 season of the UEFA Champions League is all set to kick off real soon giving us football lovers some tantalising games to watch. Real Madrid is the defending champion after lifting their 11th title and Los Blancos will be trying their best to hold on to it, a feat that not too many clubs have been able to perform. It will be, however, safe to say that their aspirations will be under threat from the likes of Barcelona, Bayern, Juventus and all the rest.
Every single one of Europe’s giants have made a concerted effort to restructure their squads during the off-season and there is no way that any of these teams will be giving up without a fight. Before the big kick-off though, we’re going to have a go and get you up to speed with the top rated teams heading into this year’s competition so read on if you want to find out who you can put your money on.
【2016-17 Champions League Outright Winner Odds】
※ Current Odds Date & Time: September 11, 8:00 p.m. (GMT)
Barcelona
Despite having an overwhelmingly poor European campaign last time around, Barcelona is still being seen as the team to beat in the Champions League this season. Luis Enrique’s boys will be chomping at the bit to set right their record from last year when they were knocked out in the quarterfinals. If the disappointment of a poor finish of their own was not enough, the Catalans also had to see their arch enemies Real Madrid win their 11th title.
This time round, Suarez, Messi and Neymar will leave no stone unturned in their hunt for European supremacy. Luis Enrique has also made his move in the transfer market by signing a host of extremely talented young men. Andre Gomes, Samuel Umtiti, Lucas Digne, Paco Alcacer, Denis Suarez and Jasper Cillessen were all brought in to the club over the summer. A strong start to their La Liga campaign seems to be in the cards for Barcelona who won their first two games of the season and there is nothing to suggest that this record will not carry over into the Champions League campaign. UK sportsbook William Hill has Barcelona as the favourite to win it all come May next year at odds of 10/3.
Last Season Finish: Quarter-finalists
Outright Odds: 10/3
Bayern Munich
The German giant Bayern Munich is one of the other teams who are being hotly tipped to go a long way in the Champions League. Bayern has had a change of manager over the summer with Pep Guardiola making way for Carlo Ancelotti. This change in management, however, is not being seen as something that could harm the Bavarians high hopes from the upcoming campaign.
Other than having a change of manager, Bayern has also brought in two big name players. Former Bayern centre-half Mats Hummels has made a sensational return to the club that let him go almost a decade ago. Along with the 35 million euro signing of Hummels from close rivals Dortmund, Bayern has also signed Portuguese hotshot Renato Sanches for the same sum. The arrival of these two talented men, however, has resulted in the departure of Emile-Hojbjerg, Sebastian Rode, Mehdi Benatia and, most notably, Mario Gotze. Overall, Bayern Munich appears to be ready for the coming Champions League campaign and the addition of two brilliant new faces along with technical nous of Carlo Ancelotti makes them a real force.
Last Season Finish: Semi-finalists
Outright Odds: 4/1
Real Madrid
Real Madrid, the present holders of the Champions League, is seen as the third most likely team to win Europe’s biggest club competition for the season. Los Blancos have made history in recent years by winning their 10th and 11th Champions League titles and if they were to win their 12th one by the end of this season, they would have done the unthinkable by being the first team to win back-to-back Champions League titles in the modern era.
Real boss Zinedine Zidane has done well since taking over the management of the club midway through last season. Since then, Real has been on the up and a Champions League victory to cap off last season was exactly what was needed to erase the memory of their very poor start. In terms of team building, Real has made just the one notable signing all summer, that being the capture of their very own Alvaro Morata from Juventus after making clever use of a buy-back clause. Other than Morata, Real has no major ins or outs to report, which essentially means that Los Blancos are satisfied with the squad at their disposal.
Last Season Finish: Champions
Outright odds: 5/1
Juventus
Another European powerhouse to unsurprisingly have their name on this list is Juventus. The Italian giants have totally dominated their national league for the last half decade after winning the Serie A for five seasons in a row. Their domestic domination, however, has not really shown on the European front as the farthest they’ve gone in the Champions League is the Final in the 2014-2015 season, where they ultimately lost out to Barcelona.
Realising their ineptitude in continental competitions, Juventus went completely bonkers in the transfer market after signing no less than eight players for a total of 155 million euros. Gonzalo Higuain, for a whopping 90 million euros was their most expensive acquisition. In terms of departures though, Paul Pogba for 105 million euros and Alvaro Morata for 35 million euros were two of their most prominent departures. On the whole, Juventus looks like a major force this season and the strong start that they made to the Serie A campaign has made their rivals sit up and take note. In terms of the Champions League, they look like a good team to put money on and we’d be very disappointed if they did not make it to at least the Semi-Finals.
Last Season Finish: Round of 16
Outright Odds: 11/1
