*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change
Yes, the long and winding road to Saint Petersburg starts here for two teams – three if we’re counting Zenit – as the Champions League group stage gets underway.
Depending on your outlook on life, the group stage is either little more than an underwhelming appetiser before the main course or a three-month feast of football. Either way, it’s time to get stuck in.
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All 32 teams have one goal in mind but they’ll need to reach the final before they can really start dreaming about lifting the massive trophy. You’re probably wondering when is the final? Where is it being held? Who is going to win the whole thing? Well, my friend, you’ve come to the right place. Well done.
The Champions League final 2022 is not for another eight months and will take place on Saturday May 28. Why not pop to the shops, treat yourself to a 2022 calendar and pop that date right in there.
We were supposed to be heading to the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany but that pesky coronavirus means the final venues have been shifted back a year after the 2020 showpiece took place on neutral ground. As a result, the Gazprom Arena in Saint Petersburg, Russia takes the honours.
You’ll be stunned to know Paris Saint-Germain are the joint-favourites. Absolutely stunned. Signing the world’s best player – sorry Cristiano – has ramped up expectations that Les Parisiens can finally get their hands on the most prestigious prize in club football. No pressure, Lionel.
Who shares co-favouritism with Messi and his new mates? Well, it’s only last year’s finalists – a club capable of dropping £100m on a single player like it’s nothing. Jack Grealish has given Manchester City an extra helping of va va voom but the lack of a recognised big-name striker might be their Achilles heel.
Could Bayern Munich use the delay in hosting the final as extra motivation? Well, that’d be a bit weird but a new era is underway at the Allianz Arena following the appointment of Julian Nagelsmann.
Paddy’s top traders only have title-holders Chelsea as fourth favourites despite Blues bigwigs signing guaranteed goal-getter Romelu Lukaku for Thomas Tuchel. Liverpool will be looking to add a seventh European Cup to their trophy cabinet but are only fifth in our market.
In an attempt to end their Champions League and Premier League title drought, Manchester United went back to the future by luring Cristiano Ronaldo to Old Trafford for a second spell. The Red Devils are the outsiders of the English quad, according to our odds compilers.
La Liga’s decline – capped off by Messi’s departure from the Nou Camp – is best spelled out by Real Madrid being the shortest-priced Spanish team at 14/1 ahead of Atletico Madrid and Barcelona at 22/1.
Champions League Winner Odds
PSG – 7/2
Man City – 7/2
Bayern Munich – 7/1
Chelsea – 15/2
Liverpool – 9/1
Man Utd – 12/1
Real Madrid – 14/1
Atletico Madrid – 22/1
Barcelona – 22/1
The rest of Paddy’s Outright Winner market for the Champions League is priced from 25/1 to 500/1.
Read More
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