Champions League 2018 - Who’s Likely To Win?

With the Champions League final commencing on the 3rd June, there are only a few months left for teams to really make an impact on the league and climb up to the top spot. Last year alone, there were many surprises with Apoel, a team that usually qualifies without fail, being knocked out of the league by FC Copenhagen, so only time will tell how unexpected the league turns out to be. As expected, bigger teams such as FC Barcelona and Manchester City has proved their skill and are performing well in their divisions, but what will happen when they go head to head? To help you out with your football betting strategy, we’ve compiled a list of teams who we feel are very likely to win the Champions League this year.

PSG Enter first surprise of the season – nobody ever thought in their wildest dreams that PSG would make the Champions League this year, yet here they are sat at the top in Group B. In the transfer market earlier this year, PSG clearly made some very wise and tactical choices, aiding them when on the pitch thanks to their stronger offensive and defensive players – more specifically, Neymar. Worth a staggering €222m, PSG didn’t stop there, also signing on Kylian Mbappe to build up their new squad.

Neymar isn’t branded as the ‘third best player’ for nothing, and as the most expensive player of all time, he certainly lives up to the expectations. Since being signed onto the team, he’s had 5 goals and 5 assists in 6 matches and has almost won all of their matches in the season thus far, so it’s hardly surprising that the profit odds currently stand at 72%! Needless to say, we could expect great things from PSG in the 2018 Champions League.

Real Madrid Considering that Real Madrid have 12 European titles to their name, it would be absolute folly not to feature them in our prediction. Just like every year, Real Madrid have carried out a smashing performance thus far in the Champions League, making a promising start to protecting their renowned champion title. By signing on young talents such as Dani Ceballos and Jesus Vallejo, we can expect even greater things from Real Madrid this year. Nevertheless, Cristiano Ronaldo remains the one to watch, with 38 assists to his name, and scoring 10 goals in knockout stages alone last year. Granted, he hasn’t had the best start to the season with his 5 match ban, but he’s now raring to start smashing balls into the back of the net.

Juventus As the only team from Serie A, Juventus have a large amount of pressure weighing down on their shoulders. Despite this, they’ve impressed us thus far in the Champions League. Placed in a very competitive and strong group, Juventus are required to play against FC Barcelona. So far, they’ve only managed to draw against the team, but this shows a considerable amount of strength given the dominance of FC Barcelona.

When playing at their home ground in the previous season, Juventus remained undefeated in all 29 games played, so it’s safe to say that we could expect great things from them in this year’s Champions League. Paulo Dybala is hugely talented, and definitely one to watch this year, with the ability to swiftly change the way a game is heading and making it harder to predict or base a strategy on. With the 100 games that he’s played for Juventus, he’s scored an incredible 52 goals, along with 18 assists to his name – not bad!

FC Barcelona With the departure of Neymar Jr, Barcelona was predicted to have quite the downfall - but they’ve certainly fought back at these low expectations. Instead, we’ve seen Barcelona come back stronger than ever, being just one point below PSG at time of writing. Truthfully, they seem very indifferent following Neymar’s departure, with their midfield position becoming very strong since Paulinho was signed over to the team. Furthermore, they haven’t lost a single match so far in the Champions League, completely dominating every other team in Group D.

As you’d expect, Lionel Messi has been performing spotlessly, with 96 goals in just 112 matches to his name. Considering that Barcelona do have 5 Champions League titles, there is quite a bit of pressure riding on their backs this year, however their performance so far looks massively promising.

Manchester City Since Pep Guardiola became the new coach for Manchester City, they have a very promising stance in this year’s Champions League. In the local league (EPL), Man City did have some issues, but then again, so did Real Madrid, and look how they’re currently performing. Already, Man City have won the majority of their games in Group F, which is largely down to the fact that their centre-back is holding firm and robust. Furthermore, their attackers have a very innovative, creative strategy, making it difficult for opposing teams to predict how they’re going to possess and play with the ball. With numerous matches still awaiting Man City in the league, only time will tell if their remarkable performance continues, but thus far? World class.

The 2018 Champions League has been undeniably exciting so far, and we cannot wait to see how this progresses in the near future. What are your thoughts on this year’s Champions League? If you’re betting, what staking methods will you be using? We’d love to know!