The draw for the 1/8 Champions League matches has already taken place, at the end of February we will be able to see these matches, and in March we will find out the 8 best clubs in Europe that will form the tournament quarter-final pairs.
At the moment, in the 1/8 finals, we already have two very serious couples, where, without exaggeration, both teams have equal chances not only to win in a separate game but also to win the Champions League as a whole. We’re talking about Liverpool’s matches against Real Madrid, as well as Bayern’s against PSG.
If you like to play o’ynash in bookmakers, bet on long-term events, then you will surely be interested to know who is the favorite in the fight for the Champions League Cup this season. Despite the fact that 16 teams will compete in the 1/8 finals, in fact, there are still fewer real contenders for the title. Let’s consider them.
PSG
At the very beginning of last season, it seemed that if PSG could not win the Champions League this time, then this would never happen. So strong now is the selection of players from the French team. However, in the 1/8 finals, the Parisians lost to the future champion Real Madrid on aggregate, and the purchases of Lionel Messi, Georginio Wijnaldum, Sergio Ramos and other star players did not justify themselves.
At the start of the new season, PSG still has a trio of attacking players Messi, Neymar, and Mbappe, which means that the team will remain one of the main favorites of the tournament. At PSG, the head coach has changed, instead of Mauricio Pochettino, the team has been taken over by Christophe Galtier, who will have to unleash the potential of a star squad.
However, at the stage of the group round, PSG took only second place, passing ahead of Benfica in additional indicators. In view of this, the rival of the Parisians in the 1/8 finals will be Bayern. Needless to say, the teams are really approximately equal in strength and it is difficult to identify a favorite here. However, we can definitely assume one thing, the team that will go to the quarterfinals from this pair will become a real contender for the championship.
Real Madrid
The best team in Europe last season. Before the start of the Champions League 2021-2022, few could believe that Real Madrid would win the Champions League, however, the best player of the season Karim Benzema and coach Carlo Ancelotti had other plans. At least for this reason, the “creamy” cannot be written off and should be considered as contenders for winning the next trophy.
Even despite the fact that Real Madrid failed to get Kylian Mbappe into their squad in the summer transfer window, the team remains strong enough to meet the highest challenges in the tournament. In their group, Real Madrid confidently took first place, however, the “creamy” were not lucky with the draw, as Liverpool got into rivals from the second position. This will be a great test of Ancelotti’s strength and if Real Madrid can beat the English, then in the future, good prospects will open up for Madrid and they will again be considered as the main contenders for the title.
Liverpool
Last season, Jurgen Klopp’s team claimed until the last moment to win all 4 trophies, but they managed to win only two. Liverpool have failed to win the Champions League and the Premier League. However, the Merseysiders are not upset and are ready to demonstrate their ambitions in the new season, at least in the Champions League. Despite the fact that Klopp’s team took only 2nd place in the group, losing the lead to the Italian Napoli, in terms of the game, the team is optimistic.
The match against Real Madrid will be a real test of strength for Liverpool, and if the English can knock out last year’s champion from the tournament, then their chances of winning the title will surely improve significantly.
Bayern
The Munich club is among the contenders for victory in the Champions League year after year, and this season is no exception. Bayern were one of the favorites last season on par with Manchester City. Despite the loss of their star striker Robert Lewandowski, the German team is still a formidable force. Bayern reinforcements include Liverpool’s Sadio Mane, Ajax’s Ryan Gravenberh and Nussair Mazraoui.
At the group stage, Bayern easily defeated all their competitors and took first place in 6 out of 6 victories. Recall that journalists and fans called this group the group of death, since in addition to the German club it also included Barcelona and Inter. The meeting with PSG will not be a cakewalk, but the German team has everything to beat the French on aggregate.
Manchester City
Many consider Pep Guardiola’s team to be the strongest in Europe. With each season, City is one of the main contenders for victory in the Champions League, but so far this tournament has not been submitted to the team. Guardiola’s team easily won the group and reached the 1/8 finals from 1st place, where they will meet with the German “Leipzig”.
Can Leipzig be considered a worthy opponent? Partially yes, but let’s face it, let’s say City are here a big favorite and will surely pass the Germans without any problems. Bookmakers estimate the chances of MS going to the quarterfinals with a coefficient of 1.16. Due to the fact that Manchester has the easiest opponent of all the clubs represented, right now, we consider them the main favorite of the Champions League.
