Who are the favourites for Champions League glory?
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Latest odds ahead of the quarter-finals
We’re down to the last eight in the Champions League, and the one-off Finals tournament in Lisbon to is set to provide a feast of football.
Will Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain finally get their hands on the trophy they crave? Will Bayern Munich return to the summit of European football? Or can Lionel Messi lead Barcelona all the way?
Before the quarter-finals get started, we’ve looked at the current state of play for the frontrunners.
For all of their quality, Manchester City haven’t quite done it in the Champions League under Pep Guardiola. That may change this year. They delivered a real statement with their 4-2 aggregate victory over Real Madrid, setting up a quarter-final tie against Lyon on Saturday.
The French side have the speed and quality in the final third to trouble City’s backline, but you’d still expect the Premier League side to seal their place in the final four – Guardiola’s side are 1/4 favourites.
Should they win, they’ll face either Barcelona or Bayern Munich in next week’s semi-finals. They’ll likely be without Sergio Aguero for the rest of the tournament, but Gabriel Jesus’ display against Real Madrid suggests he’s coming into form at just the right time. The Brazilian is 7/2 to open the scoring.
Quite possibly the team with the fewest weaknesses, Bayern’s 4-1 win over Chelsea last week was their 26th win in their previous 27 games.
They’re playing with a swagger again under Hansi Flick and Robert Lewandowski is arguably the best outright number nine in world football right now – he’s got 53 goals this season, the best return of his career. He’s 13/5 to score First or 4/5 anytime.
While Bayern are purring, their quarter-final opponents Barcelona are a long way from their best. As long as they can minimise Messi’s impact, the Bundesliga champions will be very confident here. Our traders have them at Evens to win in 90 minutes on Friday.
PSG may have won Ligue 1 again, but their season will be defined by their performance in Europe. We’ve got them as 19/20 favourites against Atalanta, though the Italians can’t be counted out at 5/2.
With Kylian Mbappe and Marco Verratti major doubts, and Angel Di Maria suspended, Atalanta will believe their attacking style could shock the French champions. But Thomas Tuchel still has plenty of firepower to call upon, with Mauro Icardi and Neymar at 7/5 and 5/4 respectively to net.
Should PSG come through this tie, they’ll be up against either Atletico Madrid or RB Leipzig for a place in the final. They’ve got a habit of limping out of Europe, but if they can get back up to full-strength by that time, they’ll have a real chance of going all the way.
For all of Barcelona’s current problems – the gradual erosion of their passing and pressing principles, the glaring lack of pace, the big-money disappointments – they’ve still got Messi. And that means they’ve always got a chance against anyone.
The Argentine was the key man in the 3-1 win over Napoli this week. With three more games to go, can he carry Barcelona to a first Champions League title since 2015?
The La Liga giants are 5/2 to beat Bayern in 90 mins. After that, Man City and a reunion with Pep may be waiting in the final four.
The rest
Atletico Madrid have lost two Champions League finals under Diego Simeone. Could this be their year? Atleti are 8/1 to triumph and are in the less intimidating side of the draw.
Atalanta have thrilled football fans across Europe with their vibrant attacking play this year. We go 11/1 that they win the competition in their debut campaign.
RB Leipzig are an exciting side, though their odds of 16/1 may have been shorter if Timo Werner was still at the club. At the bottom of the pile is 33/1 longshot Lyon.
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All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
