Manchester City have won just about everything you can win in European football over the past 15 years: the English Premier League title six times, the FA Cup twice, the League Cup six times and many UEFA Champions League matches.
The one line from Man City’s CV that’s missing? A Champions League trophy. They reached the European final for the first time two seasons ago, only to lose to English rivals Chelsea. Last year, Man City fell in the semi-finals to Real Madrid in a two-legged draw that ended 6-5 in favor of the Spanish club.
Real Madrid have won their record 14th European title, either in the Champions League or the European Cup, its predecessor. This time, Los Blancos beat fellow English club Liverpool 1-0 in the final.
Those clubs, along with European powerhouses Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Juventus, Paris St. Germain and more are back in this year’s competition, which begins its group stage on Tuesday.
But the favorites are the team hoping to finally break through – Man City, who are listed at +250 at Caesars Sportsbook. They are followed by Liverpool at +500, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) at +550 and Bayern Munich at +600. Real Madrid are the only other team under 10 to 1 at +900.
Only three other teams are even better than the 35 to 1 odds: Barcelona at +1400 and the other two English teams, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, both at +1600.
An English team is at -120 to lift the trophy, followed by Spain (+400), Germany (+500), France (+550) and Italy (+1200). Any other nation is +1800.
After six matches each in the group stage, the top two teams from each of the eight four-team groups – just like the World Cup – qualify for a knockout stage which begins in February.
From there, the Round of 16, Quarter-Finals, and Semi-Finals are home-and-away matches decided on aggregate score. The final is a unique match, which will be played this season on June 10 in Istanbul.
Man City are in Group G with Borussia Dortmund, Sevilla and FC Copenhagen and are a heavy -400 favorite to win their group. In fact, every group has a favorite. The others are: Real Madrid (-400, Group F), PSG (-275, Group H), Chelsea (-275, Group E), Liverpool (-250, Group A), Tottenham (-200, Group D), Bayern Munich (-140, Group C) and Atlético Madrid (-110, Group B).
Below is a list of absolute odds, group stage odds and absolute odds for Europe’s second-tier tournament, the Europa League (two other English teams, Arsenal and Manchester United, are the favourites), all of Caesars Sportsbook:
Champions League winner odds
Manchester City (England), +250
Liverpool (England), +500
Paris-St. Germain (France), +550
Bayern Munich (Germany), +600
Real Madrid (Spain), +900
Barcelona (Spain), +1400
Tottenham Hotspur (England), +1600
Chelsea (England), +1600
Atlético Madrid (Spain), +3500
Juventus (Italy), +4000
Inter Milan (Italy), +5000
Borussia Dortmund (Germany), +5000
AC Milan (Italy), +6500
RB Leipzig (Germany), +10,000
Ajax (Netherlands), +10000
Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia), +10,000
Oporto (Portugal), +15000
Naples (Italy), +15000
RB Salzburg (Austria), +20000
Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany), +25000
Bayer Leverkusen (Germany), +25000
Seville (Spain), +25000
Celtic (Scotland), +25000
Rangers (Scotland), +25000
Marseilles (France), +25000
Benfica (Portugal), +30,000
Sporting Lisbon (Portugal), +50000
Club Brugge (Belgium), +50000
FC Copenhagen (Denmark), +75000
Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic), +100000
Maccabi Haifa (Israel), +100000
Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), +100000
Champions League group stage odds
group A
Liverpool -250, Ajax +550, Napoli +600, Rangers +1200
Group B
Atlético Madrid -110, Porto +300, Bayer Leverkusen +300, Club Brugge +1000
Group C
Bayern Munich -140, Barcelona +175, Inter Milan +550, Viktoria Pilsen +10,000
Group D
Tottenham -200, Eintracht Frankfurt +550, Marseille +550, Sporting Lisbon +650
Group E
Chelsea -275, AC Milan +275, RB Salzburg +1200, Dinamo Zagreb +5000
Group F
Real Madrid -400, RB Leipzig +400, Celtic +1200, Shakhtar Donetsk _6500
Group G
Man City -400, Borussia Dortmund +500, Sevilla +800, FC Copenhagen +5000
Group H
PSG -275, Juventus +250, Benfica +1200, Maccabi Haifa +10000
Europa League winner odds (+10000 and under)
(Note: The third-placed team in each Champions League group enters the Europa League in the knockout stage and will be added to the odds at that time)
Arsenal (England), +550
Manchester United (England), +600
Rome (Italy), +1200
Lazio (Italy), +2000
Real Betis (Spain), +2500
Real Society (Spain), +2800
Freiburg (Germany), +3500
PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), +3500
Union Berlin (Germany), +4000
Feyenoord (Netherlands), +5000
Monaco (French League), +5000
Rennes (France), +6500
Braga (Portugal), +6500
Fenerbahçe (Turkey), +6500
Olympiacos (Greece), +8000
Bodo/Glimt (Norway), +10000
Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine), +10000
Nantes (France), +10000
Union St. Gilloise (Belgium), +10000
Red Star of Belgrade (Serbia), +10000
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