Champions League Free Bets
Champions League outright betting preview
The draw for the Champions League group stage has now been made and the bookmakers have been slashing their odds on Barcelona after the Spanish champions were handed a favourable section that includes Panathinaikos, FC Copenhagen and Rubin Kazan. Pep Guardiola’s team are a best price 3/1 (Ladbrokes) to regain the trophy that they won two seasons ago, with the Spanish champions determined to make amends for that semi-final defeat by Inter last term.
Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal can all declare themselves happy with a draw which gives them every chance of going through to the last sixteen. The Blues are 6/1 (Paddy Power) to finally get their hands on the Champions League trophy after being pitted against Marseille, Spartak Moscow and MSK Zilina, with Carlo Ancelotti likely to have been relieved that his team avoided Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid.
Meanwhile, the Red Devils are a best price 8/1 (Blue Square) after being drawn in a group with Valencia, Glasgow Rangers and Bursaspor. Sir Alex Ferguson’s team will look forward to a ‘Battle of Britain’ style contest with the Scottish champions over two legs, while Valencia have been shorn of their two best players this summer, with David Silva and David Villa having moved to Manchester City and Barcelona respectively.
Arsenal will be pleased that they have been given some beatable opponents, with the Gunners set to face Shakhtar Donetsk, Braga and FK Partizan. Arsene Wenger’s team are still available at 16/1 (Coral) on the outright market and perhaps Braga will be the toughest opponent after they knocked out Sevilla over two legs to reach the group stage. Nevertheless, with Cesc Fabregas staying at the Emirates for another season, it should be a safe passage for one North London team.
As for Tottenham, perhaps it won’t be so easy for Harry Redknapp’s team, who were placed in Pot 3 and therefore always bound to get tricky group opponents. It’s reigning champions Inter Milan who stand in the way of Spurs, along with Werder Bremen, which perhaps wasn’t the worst Pot 2 opponent that they could have received. FC Twente make up the quartet and Paddy Power go 40/1 that Tottenham go all the way and cap a remarkable European adventure.
Inter start a new era under Rafael Benitez and the Italian champions are 16/1 (Paddy Power) to retain their crown under the Spaniard. We shouldn’t forget that Rafa won the Champions League with Liverpool at the first time of asking and they retain the nucleus of the side that did so well last season. Perhaps it will take the squad a little time to adjust to life after Jose Mourinho, while it’s extremely rare that a team wins this competition in back-to-back seasons.
Real Madrid will be hoping to benefit from having the Special One as manager and the Spanish giants are no bigger than 11/2 (Bet Fred) to win the Champions League, something which would mean Jose Mourinho has been successful in this competition with a record-breaking three different teams. It’s a pretty short price but the acquisitions of Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil during the summer could help Real kick on this season and Cristiano Ronaldo can win matches singlehandedly.
Perhaps the best value is with Bayern Munchen, who were drawn with fairly easy group opponents in Roma, Basle and CFR Cluj. The German champions should progress to the last sixteen as group winners as they look to go one better than last season why they lost in the final to Inter Milan. Louis Van Gaal’s team are available at 16/1 with Victor Chandler and they will have some brilliant attacking talent in the form of Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery and Thomas Muller.
AC Milan have been grouped with Real Madrid and it will be interesting to see whether the Rossoneri can regroup after a poor campaign under Leonardo last season. However, they did pull off a surprise win at the Bernabeu last term and boast some excellent players in Pato and Ronaldinho. The Italian side are 40/1 with Stan James on the outright market and they were placed in Pot 1 due to their excellent track record in this competition.
Roma were the team that pushed Inter close in Serie A last term and the Wolves are also 40/1 (Coral) to continue flying the flag for Italy in the Champions League. In Claudio Ranieri, they certainly have a manager with plenty of experience in this competition and they should comfortably progress to the last sixteen with Bayern in their group.
Meanwhile, it’s a surprise to see Olympique Lyonnais as big as 66/1 (Stan James) to win the Champions League after reaching the semi-finals of the competition last term. The French side found Bayern Munich too good for them, although their squad is packed with players who have European experience and they will be reasonably satisfied to share a group with Benfica, Schalke 04 and Hapoel Tel Aviv.
The Portuguese champions could go well in the tournament and you can back Benfica at odds of 80/1 with Victor Chandler, while Braga are a massive 150/1 with Coral and there are signs that Portuguese football is moving in the right direction, especially with the latter knocking out the much-fancied Sevilla in a play-off.
Glasgow Rangers might fancy their chances of getting out of their group with Manchester United, although Stan James are prepared to lay the Scottish team at 400/1 to win the Champions League, while French champions Marseille are 100/1 (bet365) to go all the way.
