The newly-updated Champions league kicks off for the 2024/25 season on Tuesday, spanning the entire midweek with games through to Thursday. We take a look at this year’s competition, giving you our best bets for the winner, top goalscorer, and one selection in the specials markets.
Champions League Winner Prediction – Barcelona @ 16/1 with BetMGM and BetUK
When BARCELONA defeated Juventus 3-1 in the 2014/15 Champions League final it would have been long odds against that, a decade on from that competition’s beginning, they would be without another European trophy in the meantime. Even by the time of their victory in the final, Lionel Messi had not yet turned 28, Neymar was two years away from joining PSG, and they had pipped rivals Real Madrid to the La Liga title by two points.
Domestically, the struggle of their off-field financial issues has not been overly felt, with four more league titles arriving in that time, as well as a quartet of Copa del Reys. However, they have progressed beyond the quarter finals just once since their fifth continental success, and if anything that provided their most harrowing defeat as they saw a 3-0 semi final lead slip at Anfield.
Last season saw them blow a similarly preposterous advantage in the last eight, taking a 3-2 lead after an away victory against Paris Saint-Germain before taking the lead in their home leg. Thereafter, PSG scored four unanswered goals to triumph 6-4 on aggregate. It was a chastening season in that respect, as they lost both El Clasicos to late goals in La Liga as Madrid won the title by 10 points.
This year already looks different for the Blaugrana though. Fresh from his starring role in sharing the Golden Boot at Euro 2024, Dani Olmo has been signed from RB Leipzig, hitting the ground running with goals in his first two La Liga appearances. The star of Lamine Yamal is only going to keep shining brighter too.
Their league phase draw has generally been kind, with their hardest away game a trip to last season’s finalists Borussia Dortmund, although that will hold few fears. Five league wins out of five at the time of writing speak to this being a rejuvenated and confident side, generally focused on young talent and moulded by the man responsible for Bayern Munich’s 2020 Champions League success in Hansi Flick.
Earning a place in the top eight will be the key starting point, but their fixtures give them an excellent chance of doing so. Bayern themselves are the toughest test to travel to the Camp Nou and any result there will set them up for a promising run. Manchester City and Real Madrid possess too dominant a share in the market for what could prove a more open renewal of this competition overall.
Champions League Top Goalscorer Prediction – Harry Kane @ 7/1 with BetVictor and StarSports
With Erling Haaland surely in line for a few rests during the extended group phase of the Champions League and Real Madrid’s goals likely to be spread around further than Kylian Mbappe’s boots, HARRY KANE represents the perfect middle ground of the out-and-out goalscorer who may well play every game.
The new format and its seeded nature at the end of the league does mean that every place is vital, so Haaland may still get the majority of minutes. Nevertheless, Bayern have a similarly gentle looking set of fixtures as City, so while Kane’s start has not been quite as bombastic as the Norwegian’s nine in four domestically, he has still recorded four goals and two assists in his first three league games, including a hat-trick in gameweek three.
It is important to select a goalscorer likely to have that extended playing time in the competition and with the Bundesliga schedule slightly less taxing than La Liga and the Premier League, Vincent Kompany may well lean on England’s captain to lead the line throughout. We saw at the Euros that Kane can fade late in the season, but he has re-emerged from his summer break fit and firing.
Having shared the Golden Boot in last season’s Champions League despite Bayern stumbling on home shores, he could well profit if their form burgeons greater confidence on the European stage. 7/1 for a man with his prowess is too big.
Specials – Inter Milan to Finish in the Top 8 @ 7/4 with BetVictor
They might have to do it the hard way given they face Manchester City at the Etihad on the opening matchday, but INTER MILAN are the clear standouts for Italy in this competition having waltzed to Serie A success by 19 points last term. That proceeded a near-miss in this tournament in 2022/23 in which only profligacy in the final cost them against City.
However, their other top seed opponents were revealed to be RB Leipzig at home, which immediately eases fixture worries, even though Arsenal and Leverkusen were tough draws in the bracket below. Nevertheless, their lower tier opponents include Crvena Zvezda, Young Boys and Sparta Prague, three of the six favourites to finish bottom of the group phase.
Keeping Argentinian striker Lautaro Martinez in good shape will be crucial given his recent form for the club, but theirs is one of the deepest squads in Italy overall. Though they were runaway league champions last term, Simone Inzaghi has built a reputation as an excellent cup manager too, and will be keen to go far in the Champions League without the need for extra fixtures, especially with that Serie A success under his belt.