The first half of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 is in the books. We had a few upsets take place earlier this week, with Juventus notably having been eliminated by Porto in a thriller. So, Cristiano Ronaldo’s quest to rise back to the top of Europe will have to wait at least another year.
MyBookie’s oddsmakers have updated the odds for each of the 12 teams left vying for Europe’s top club honor. Manchester City have emerged as +220 favorites, though Bayern Munich (+300) aren’t too far behind.
Below are the updated odds to win the 2021 Champions League:
- Manchester City (+220)
- Bayern Munich (+300)
- Paris St. Germain (+500)
- Liverpool (+600)
- Chelsea (+1100)
- Real Madrid (+1400)
- Borussia Dortmund (+1600)
- Atletico Madrid (+3300)
- Porto (+4000)
- Atalanta (+5000)
- Borussia Monchengladbach (+7500)
- Lazio (+10000)
Manchester City On A Roll
With the exception of Manchester United, nobody has been able to touch Manchester City of late. After struggling to mount much of a push against Liverpool’s surge to the top of England last year, Pep Guardiola has quickly gotten the Sky Blues back into pole position in the Premier League.
City are a lock to win the English top-flight again. Pep’s squad are 14 points clear of United at the top of the table. Despite a 2-0 loss to their intracity rivals last week, that’s an insurmountable lead for City. Of course, winning domestic trophies hasn’t been an issue for this team. Getting to the top of Europe has been a much more elusive goal.
City beat Borussia Monchengladbach 2-0 in the first leg of their round-of-16 tie. It’s going to take a Herculean effort for the German side to turn that around in the second leg, so we can go ahead and pencil City into the quarters.
Can Bayern Munich Repeat?
Last season was upended by the pandemic, so we forgive you if you didn’t notice Bayern Munich breezing to a Champions League crown. The German giants were the best team in Europe last season. While they have struggled to replicate that form so far this term, the sheer talent in this side is unquestionable.
Bayern hold just a two-point lead over RB Leipzig in Bundesliga, but nobody should be betting against this team to ultimately win yet another league title. The question is whether Bayern can become the first team since Real Madrid to win the Champions League in consecutive years.
At +300, the upside is there. Bayern thrashed Lazio 4-1 in their first leg, so this is another team whose fate in the quarterfinals looks safe.
What’s Going On With Liverpool?
Liverpool were right there with Bayern as the best team in Europe a season ago, but this term has not been kind to Jurgen Klopp’s men. A rash of injuries and struggles to score have resulted in the reigning Premier League champions falling all the way to eighth in the league table. A top-four finish isn’t out of the question, but the Reds’ best path to next year’s Champions League may be through winning it this year.
While their domestic form has been awful, Liverpool did look like their old selves across two legs against Leipzig. Liverpool won both games by a 2-0 final to advance to the quarterfinals for the third time in four years. The Reds fell in the Final back in 2018 before beating Spurs to win the competition two years ago.
The absence of Virgil Van Dijk is noteworthy, but we know that this team is better than they have shown for the vast majority of the season. Just ask Leipzig about Liverpool’s potential.
Can PSG Close the Deal?
As is the case with Manchester City, Paris St. Germain aren’t lacking domestic trophies. PSG have won just about everything in France over the last decade. However, the side is still looking to win Champions League for the first time.
They came close last season before ultimately falling to Bayern in the Final. Paris are once again dealing with an injury to Neymar, who seems to get hurt every year. This time, he’s dealing with a groin injury. PSG were able to get past Barcelona without him, but Neymar will likely need to be healthy if Paris want to finally get over the hump.
PSG currently own the third-best odds of any team behind only City and Bayern.
Taylor Smith
Taylor Smith has been a staff writer with GamblingSites.org since early 2017. Taylor is primarily a sports writer, though he will occasionally dabble in other things like politics and entertainment betting. His primary specialties are writing about the NBA, Major League Baseball, NFL and domestic and international soccer. Fringe sports like golf and horse racing aren’t exactly his cup of tea, bu …
