The tournament has changed format since its origins in the 1950s, but the prestige of winning the competition has never wavered. It is a highly coveted prize and one of the most difficult in football to win due to the highly competitive nature of the competition.
The top teams from around Europe's different leagues, including the Premier League, La Liga, and Serie A, all come together in an epic battle for supremacy. The Champions League provides fantastic clashes between European giants like AC Milan, Liverpool, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich.
The most successful team in the history of the Champions League is Real Madrid, having amassed eight titles. Including the former version of the European Cup, Real Madrid are streets ahead with a combined 14 titles, the most recent of which they earned in 2022.
The knockout stages are where the Champions League really begins, as the elite teams in European football compete over two legs to see who will survive another day. Last year saw Manchester City win their first title in their history after numerous attempts, and they are the favourites to do it all again this season. They play with such confidence that it can be difficult to imagine anyone in Europe being good enough to beat them, but the teams they will come up against should feel they are capable of anything.
Champions League Predictions 2023–24
Two obvious teams that will always be a challenge, regardless, are Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. Both of them are winning the majority of games in their respective domestic leagues but, by their high standards, are firing on only a few cylinders. Both teams are full of stars, though, including Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, and Vinicius Junior, so if they happen to meet Manchester City in the latter rounds, anything can happen.
After that, Arsenal and PSG can be viewed as having a realistic outside shot at the title. PSG are always hard to gauge. They were perhaps a little lucky to make their way through to the knockout stages, but they possess some quality talent, most notably Kylian Mbappe. If any team were to win the competition outside these teams outlined, it would be deemed a surprise, but if they have made it this far, they are certainly within a chance.
For those who love a good underdog story, Copenhagen FC and Real Sociedad are both teams that are unfamiliar names at this stage of the tournament, and if they can go even deeper into this tournament, it will be regarded as some achievement.
Champions League Winner Odds
Manchester City will start the new Champions League season as the reigning champions. Their 2023 title, City's first ever in the Champions League, was part of a brilliant treble they earned along with the Premier League and FA Cup titles on the domestic front.They will be one of the front-runners for winner odds Champions League offers for the 2023–24 season. Title defences in the Champions League are tough, making the outright winner market more competitive and intriguing.
Real Madrid is the only team to defend a Champions League title successfully. The Spanish giants won it three consecutive seasons (2016, 2017, and 2018), a feat that will be hard for anyone to match.
The current champions of Europe's five big domestic leagues, Bayern Munich, Napoli, PSG, Barcelona, and reigning champions Manchester City, will be expected to launch their bids for success in the 2023–24 Champions League season.
There is always a robust chasing pack of contenders to weigh up for Champions League predictions, with the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester United, Liverpool, Inter Milan, and Borussia Dortmund potentially getting in the frame.
Champions League Draw
From a football betting perspective, the Group Stage draw is one of the most highly anticipated points of the season. The 2023–24 Champions League draw will be held on August 31. This is a significant event because it determines what big clashes are coming down the line during the group stage.The draw has a massive bearing on the chance of a team making it to the next stage of the competition. If big teams get drawn together, it can throw qualification from the group wide open.
On the flip side, a strong competition favourite receiving a favourable draw could bolster their chances of winning the tournament outright.
The Round of 16 Champions League draw is another pivotal moment of the season. It is when the Quarterfinals and Semifinals brackets are drawn together, and it is a strategic time for punters to plot the path to the Final for a given team.
Champions League Final Betting
The 2023–24 Champions League Final is booked for June 1, 2024, at Wembley Stadium in London. The Champions League Final is played after the Big 5 domestic leagues have drawn to a close for the season. It is one of the most high-profile football matches for soccer betting, and Champions League final live odds will be in big demand.
Champions League Fixtures
In the competition proper, there are a total of 78 matches, which means a lot of individual fixtures for betting opportunities. During the group stage, there are six Matchdays, with two nights of eight fixtures per Matchday. Those are the infamously busy Tuesday and Wednesday nights for European football betting action.The busy schedule gives rise to plenty of activity on the Champions League betting markets, from the match Outright to Goalscorer markets and other exciting opportunities like Same Game Multis, Handicaps, and Prop bets.
These are all popular markets at Betsson, not just for the Champions League but also for Premier League odds, Europa League, and other major international competitions.
Champions League Live Odds
With so many interesting matches coming up in the 2023–24 Champions League, punters will once again have an opportunity to look at live football odds on various fixtures. All 78 Champions League matches, from the first kick-off in the group stage to the final, will have live markets available.We provide more than 80 live football betting markets, from Next Goalscorer options to Correct Score and Interval wagers. An important tool on Champions League live odds is our popular Cash Out tool. If any active Champions League bets are eligible for a Cash Out offer, you can find it in the bet slip. A Cash Out opportunity lets a punter settle an entire bet early or partially settle and leave the rest running until the final whistle.
Our live odds for Champions League match pages are accented with in-play graphics that give statistical insights into the action. Our updates show key moments of a match, like a corner kick, a yellow card, and the general momentum of the game, along with a match clock and score.
Champions League Betting Tips
There are great Champions League betting tips that can help pick out bets for the competition. We provide statistics on the match pages for individual fixtures, plus the current Champions League group stage standings.Champions League betting tips can be handy when putting together a strategy for wagering on the competition. Whether a prediction falls on match outright markets for an accumulator, Over 2.5 Goals, or Both Teams To Score, the extensive Champions League coverage at Betsson covers every minute of every match.
2022 Champions League Final Recap
Manchester City, the pre-tournament favourites in Champions League odds, collected their first-ever title in the 2023 Champions League Final. The match, hosted at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, saw the Citizens play Serie A giants Inter Milan for the honours.Manchester City finished top of their group before going on to eliminate German Bundesliga opposition RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich in the knockout stages before beating Real Madrid 5-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals.
Inter Milan finished second in their group behind Bayern Munich. But the draw still worked out favourably for them, as they beat FC Porto and Benfica on their way to the semi-finals. In the final four, they met arch-rivals AC Milan and won the tie easily, 3-0.
In the 2022 Champions League Final, a second-half goal from pre-match favourites Manchester City settled the tie. The 1-0 win gave the English Premier League club their first-ever European Cup title and their first trophy in any competition in more than 40 years.
The victory also rewarded Man City with a place in the 2023 Super Cup and the next two international club world tournaments.
