Champions League Preview

After last season’s near miss, where I piled into Bayern Munich at an average price of around 11/1 only to see them agonisingly lose the final to Chelsea, I am confident there is some more great value to be had in the outright market for this season’s bonanza.

Barcelona are without doubt a magnificent side and many people’s fancies to regain the trophy having prevailed in 2011 but they are coming off what can only be described as a disappointing season having fallen at the semi-final stage in last season’s competition and also falling short in La Liga behind great rivals Real Madrid. At 5/2 they make no appeal.

Real Madrid look a better bet under the guidance of ‘the special one’. After a slow start in La Liga and a potentially tricky draw being handed to them in the Group Stage they have now drifted to a back-able price. Last season Real broke several records on their way to the La Liga title and perhaps the most impressive, considering Barcelona are in direct opposition, is the fact that they finished with the best ever Goal Difference of plus 89. Back to Back semi -final defeats will only spur Mourinho’s troops this time around. 9/2 looks a fair price for a team virtually guaranteed to make the latter stages so I will keep them on side.

The Manchester duo are priced around 10/1 but for me they are both too short. United’s midfield still looks devoid of genuine class and City’s lack of experience really showed in this competition last season, most notably when given a footballing lesson in Munich during the group stages.

Last year’s winners Chelsea make limited appeal at 16/1 not least because no team has ever defended their crown under the competitions current format.

So now to my bigger priced fancies and it’s certainly a case of German value for the ‘judge’.

Bayern are again too big at 14/1 when you consider that quite simply they looked the best team in Europe for large parts of last season’s competition and the performance the Bavarian giants put up in the Bernabeu during their semi- final victory will live long in the memory.

The other team that interests me at a big price are Borussia Dortmund. Jurgen Klopp has assembled an array of talent that looks likely to make them very competitive. Admittedly they lack regular experience of the latter stages of this competition and will have to perform well to escape a group housing big fish Real and Manchester City, but that has been more than factored into their price. A 40/1 quote is massive for the current German Champions who look well capable of causing a stir in Europe this season.

The Judge’s Big Bets

Champions League Outright

Real Madrid 1pt @ 9/2
Bayern Munich 2pt @ 14/1
Borussia Dortmund 1pt @ 40/1