Champions League Power Rankings and Odds

Long Shots (Honourable Mentions)

15. Sevilla (+6600)

14. RB Leipzig (+5000)

13. AC Milan (+4000)

12. Borussia Dortmund (+3300)

11. Atletico Madrid (+3300)

Underdogs

10. Inter Milan (+3300)

Inter enter the 2023-24 season as +175 favourites to win Serie A. After losing the 2023 Champions League final 1-0 to Manchester City just two months ago, on June 10th, Inter lost their starting goalkeeper André Onana to Manchester United on a €52.50m transfer.

Milan also lost one of their backup strikers in Romelu Lukaku, as his loan from Chelsea came to an end. But potentially their two most important departures were their starting defensive-midfielder Marcelo Brozovic to Saudi-side Al Nassr who recently purchased Cristiano Ronaldo, and centre-back Milan Skriniar to Paris Saint-Germain who hoists a transfer value of around €50m.

They’ve attempted to plug the holes with offseason arrivals including Marcus Thuram (ST), Carlos Augusto (LWB), Yann Sommer (GK) and Kristjan Asllani (CDM), and the loan of Davide Frattesi (CM). It will be interesting to see how the replacements fair filling the shoes of the squad that came so close to Champions League glory.

9. Napoli (+2500)

After losing star centre-back Min-jae Kim to Bayern Munich for €50m and the end of starting centre-midfielder Tanguy Ndombélé’s loan from Tottenham Hotspur, Napoli had some offseason work to do in order to regain their confidence in returning to the Champions League quarterfinals –where they lost 2-1 to AC Milan on aggregate in April– or potentially further.

Napoli locked up Giacomo Raspadori after his loan from Sassuolo ended, costing them €26m, they then replaced a midfield gap with Jens Cajust from Stade Reims of Ligue 1 in France for €12m. In order to counter the departure of the Bayern-bound star centre-back Napoli finalized a transfer for 22-year-old Brazilian centre-back Natan from Red Bull Bragantino for €10m.

Despite the two immediate replacements, Napoli will field a very similar side to that of the 2022-23 season, where they had success managing to win Serie A with a record of 28-6-4 and topping 2nd place Lazio by 14 points.

8. Newcastle (+2000)

Now this is an interesting one. Newcastle hasn’t seen European competition since the 2012-13 Europa League and they haven’t reached a Champions League since 2003-04. Yet their success in the Premier League last year suggests they are able to compete on the world stage. Coming 4th in the Prem and snagging a Champions League spot from Liverpool, Newcastle are prepared to make a splash after a long drought.

Their 2021 takeover by a consortium of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the Reuben Brother and PCP Capital Partner has had a direct impact on their success on the pitch, showing an ability to flex finances when talent is needed.

Newcastle lost their starting left-winger Allan Saint-Maximin to Saudi-side Al-Ahli, but they managed to replace him with someone who provided much more offensive output last year in Harvey Barnes from Leicester for €44m after they were relegated to the Championship. On top of Barnes, Newcastle also managed to pull-off the transfers of Sandro Tonali for €64m from AC Milan and Tino Livramento for €37.2m from also post-relegation Championship-bound Southampton. These are three world renowned youngsters who Newcastle will look to for the most past make an instant impact in both the Premier League and the Champions League.

In the Hunt

7. Paris Saint-Germain (+1600)

Obvious and massive names missing from the PSG frontline this season, but Parisians should only be thankful it wasn’t worse. As the departures of world-renowned Lionel Messi to Inter Miami of the MLS and Neymar Jr. to Al Hilal of the Saudi Pro League, were mere moments from being followed by the departure of Paris-born 2018 World Cup winner Kylian Mbappé to what was likely to be Real Madrid.

Though Mbappé remains as the sole of the dynamic MNM forward trio, PSG used their deep pockets to move quickly and acquire the services of a plethora of talent from across Europe:

Certainly going a different direction from Messi and Neymar, but you could argue this team will be better off with the youth and competition in the squad. Adding €362m in squad value certainly always makes an impact.

6. Manchester United (+1600)

Man United haven’t found a ton of success on the European stage since the 2000s, only winning the 2016-17 Europe League trophy after a 2-0 win over Ajax. Last year United were bounced in the Europa League quarter-final against Sevilla, losing 5-2 on aggregate.

After coming 3rd in the Premier League last season and clinching their spot in this years Champions League group competition, Erik ten Hag’s improving side is primed to cause a stir.

Manager ETH has proven to be cutthroat with his squad choices, showing no favouritism to United’s stars. After selling club legends Cristiano Ronaldo and David De Gea for failing to comply to the system being established, the remaining squad members have been taught a lesson in what it takes to play under his reign.

The new arrivals Old Trafford faithful are expecting to have significant impact are 24-year-old centre-midfielder and former Champions League winner Mason Mount from Chelsea (€64.2m transfer), 20-year-old striker Rasmus Højlund from Atalanta (€75m) and goalkeeper André Onana from 2022-23 Champions League runner-up Inter Milan (€52.5m).

For quite some time now the Red Devils have been a potent poaching striker away from being a devastating side to combat for 90+ minutes. Ronaldo was unable to fill that role and was subsequently dismissed, Wout Weghorts was then brought in and failed to provided any consistent offense whatsoever, which leaves Højlund on the red side of Manchester, where United hope to develop their own Erling Haaland.

5. FC Barcelona (+1400)

Barcelona were borderline embarrassed in last years European competitions despite winning the Spanish La Liga title, 12 points clear of bitter rival Real Madrid. Barca haven’t been deep enough in the Champions League to make a statement since 2018-19 when they were defeated by Liverpool 4-3 on aggregate in the semi-final after going into Anfield with a 3-0 lead.

After having their poor financials collide with serious fines due to financial fair play breaches Barcelona have been unable to spend the same way they have in the past, relying on mostly free transfers. Despite that they were able to lock up Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gündogan for free, along with Iñigo Martínez from Athletic Bilbao. The only money spent by Barça was €3.4m on Girona defensive-midfielder Oriol Romeu.

Considering Barça sold Dembélé, Griezmann, Kessié, Nico González, Trincão, Busquets, Alba and Umtiti, it’s interesting that oddsmakers have them this high on the list. You won’t catch me betting on them to go deep in any competitions this year, despite maybe winning the domestic league.

4. Arsenal (+1000)

After spending €116.60m on 24-year-old West Ham defensive-midfielder Declan Rice, €75m on 24-year-old Chelsea attacking-midfielder Kai Havertz and €40m on 22-year-old Ajax centre/right-back Jurrien Timberm Arsenal are looking to expand their 2022-23 success against the Premier League to International competitions.

Arsenal paved the way for the Premier League table for a considerable portion of last year’s campaign before Manchester City came and stole the title from them in the last few weeks of the season.

The gunners haven’t seen the Champions League since 2016-17 where they lost in the round of 16 to Bayern Munich an astonishing 10-2 on aggregating, dropping both matches 5-1.

Aside from Granit Xhaka, Arsenal haven’t lost anyone substantial and have made statement signings. They should state their claim to be a force in International competition for years to come, and at +1000 odds? Don’t mind if I do.

Favourites

3. Real Madrid (+800)

As per usual, Real Madrid has a chance to terrify the world of club football. After winning the Champions League in 2021-22, then losing to soon-to-be champions Manchester City in last year’s semi-final, Real Madrid managed to add arguably the biggest transfer prospect on the market this summer in Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham.

Jude is a 20-year-old central-midfielder with a current market value of around €120m, making him tied as the 4th most valuable player in world football behind an elite list of Erling Haaland (€180m), Kylian Mbappé (€180m) and new teammate Vinicius Jr. (€150m), tied with Bukayo Saka and Victor Osimhen. Extremely elite company.

It’s no secret that Real Madrid were flirting with the prospect of a ridiculously expensive Kylian Mbappé transfer, but that never happened despite the departure of Los Blanco’s primary striker Karim Benzema, who also went to the Saudi Pro League, joining Ittihad Club on a free transfer.

Since Mbappé opted to stay in France, Madrid are left with a glaring hole in the middle of the top line. A hole they’ve managed to fill by funnelling Jude Bellingham into the final third as an attacking midfielder, and allowing Federico Valverde the room to operate on the flank and provide extra offence as the Brazilian inverted wing combo of Vini Jr. and Rodrygo shift, being able to occupy space in the middle and along the wings.

If Madrid are able to stay get and stay healthy there is no reason why they shouldn’t be at similar or even better odds than Bayern Munich and will likely soon commence a run that will change the landscape. Their immense talented youth, depth and flexibility is demonstrated across the pitch but can be highlighted in the midfield where they boastthe likes of Bellingham, Valverde, Tchouaméni, Camavinga, Modric, Kroos, Park and Güler, there’s no midfield in club football with even remotely close to this level of pure class.

2. Bayern Munich (+500)

Now obviously Jamal Musiala has to have a place in that starting XI. It will be interesting to see how Thomas Tuchel opts to lineup the Bavarian side.

After the addition of the Premier League’s 2nd all-time leading goalscorer Harry Kane, they’ve began to resemble the fierce Bayern side spearheaded by Robert Lewandowski, which hoisted the Champions League trophy in 2019-20 after defeating PSG 1-0 at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon.

Despite adding just 2 signings to a side that didn’t break into the top-4 of last year’s Champions League bracket –after losing 4-1 to future champs Manchester City, much like PSG and Real– there remains high-expectations on the German juggernauts, seeing as those 2 signings totalled €150m and are both to be key squad players immediately.

1. Manchester City (+225)

After winning their first and only Champions League trophy last year, Manchester City proved in the transfer market that they are not prepared to concede the throne just yet.

Despite losing starting right-winger Riyad Mahrez to Saudi-side Al-Ahli and backup centre-midfielder Ilkay Gündogan to Barcelona, City’s squad depth more than makes up for their absences. Not to mention they went ahead and spent €120m to secure Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol. The former coming at an incredibly handy time, as starting centre-midfielder and captain Kevin De Bruyne experienced a potential year-ending injury just 20 minutes into his season debut at Burnley last weekend. A considerable blow to the squad as De Bruyne is widely considered to be the best midfielder in the game today.

Gvardiol comes into different circumstances, as he may be able to win his starting role but has serious competition at the back-end of the pitch but despite being one of the best defensive prospects in the game, City offer an unbelievable amount of squad depth and young talent looking for playing time.

All odds from bet365.com
Squad XI’s from chosen11.com
(Photo Credit: Alamy)