Who Will Win the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League?

04-12-2023

Manchester City marked the 2022/23 season by winning a treble of Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League. Pep Guardiola’s machinery finally broke the negative trend of failures in crucial knockout stage games in the elite continental competition to lift their maiden UCL trophy.

The Citizens are the main favorites to repeat the feat, especially after a scintillating group stage campaign with five wins in the inaugural five outings against RB Leipzig, Young Boys, and Red Star Belgrade.

As the group stage slowly comes to an end, we have asked Herrin Kendrick from betting tips site bettingtips4you.com to give us an overview of the main title contenders based on everything we have seen from each team so far in the season, both domestically and continentally. Is any outfit capable of dethroning City?

Man City Stand Tall with Bookies

Bookmakers currently have the reigning champions at 2/1 (3.00) to defend the Champions League title. It is very difficult to argue against Pep Guardiola and his troops considering the strength of the roster the famous Spanish expert has at his disposal.

English champions have so much depth in their ranks despite losing influential attacking assets last summer in the likes of Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan. They’ve cruised past all rivals in the UEFA Champions League group and they are still at the top of the Premier League standings despite missing key playmaker Kevin De Bruyne through injury since the beginning of the season. The Belgian maestro should be back on grass soon and Man City should only be stronger in the knockout phase of the competition.

Despite relatively short odds for such a massive accomplishment (the UCL title defense), we can’t say anything against those who want to back Manchester City to lift the prestigious trophy for the second year running.

Can Harry Kane Take Bayern Munich Beyond Quarterfinal?

Bayern Munich are perennial contenders. However, six-time champions have been stopped in quarterfinals in three straight years since winning the title in the 2019/20 season. They`ve been eliminated by the likes of PSG, Villarreal, and Manchester City along the way.

The wounds are still fresh from last year`s defeat to Manchester City at Etihad Stadium. What have the Bavarians done in the summer transfer window before the start of this season? They went on and signed Premier League’s goal-scoring machine Harry Kane who has immediately translated his outstanding form to German Bundesliga where he easily tops the goal-scoring charts despite an amazing campaign from Guirassy in Stuttgart.

Bayern Munich locked their place in the knockout stage of the 2023/24 Champions League campaign with easy four wins in the inaugural four games, leaving Galatasaray, FC Copenhagen, and Manchester United behind without any problems. Bayern are always dangerous and they can enjoy a deep run this time around. Nonetheless, we don`t see them going all the way and winning the competition.

Real Madrid Lack a Proper Striker

You should never underestimate the record-holding 14-time Champions League winners but this truly does not seem like Real Madrid’s season. Los Blancos have managed to win all four of the opening group-stage affairs and they did not face any problems in the section with Napoli, Braga, and Union Berlin.

However, we can’t resist the impression that Carlo Ancelotti’s squad lacks a proper No. 9 following the departure of Karim Benzema. Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo are doing a solid job while Jude Bellingham can`t stop scoring from behind but Real Madrid will struggle in the crunch time against stronger rivals. We don`t see the value in backing them to win the trophy at the 13/2 (7.50) odds.

Arsenal are the Lone Remaining Serious Contender

Looking at the list of the teams remaining in the competition, only Arsenal seems a legitimate title candidate. Mikel Arteta transformed this team into a genuine contender in the Premier League last year and the Gunners have additionally improved their ranks in the summer transfer window by completing Declan Rice and Kai Havertz moves. Arteta’s troops are capable of beating any rival in the world in a double-header and we can recognize the value in backing them to win the competition for the first time in club history at the attractive 8/1 (9.00) odds.

Barcelona are tempting at 16/1 (17.00) odds but they are far from the old Xavi, Iniesta, and Messi days when they dominated world football with such ease. Xavi is now at the helm but his team have shown too many weaknesses so far in the season, dropping points on numerous occasions in both Spanish La Liga and the UEFA Champions League group. Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, and Borussia Dortmund are all capable of big results on their days but we just can’t see them reaching the semis let alone winning the competition.

Taking everything into consideration, it all points towards a four-horse battle with Manchester City as firm favorites, just as the bookmakers suggest.

If you want to check the latest betting picks, visit www.bettingtips4you.com.