The Champions League makes its highly anticipated return on Tuesday night as Barcelona take on Mauricio Pochettino’s Paris Saint-Germain, while struggling Liverpool travel to RB Leipzig.
There are a number of mouth-watering round of 16 matches to come in the following weeks, with Atletico Madrid and Chelsea to go head-to-head, while Sevilla play Borussia Dortmund.
As things stand, it’s Manchester City who carry the best domestic form into the latest round of Champions League football, having accumulated the most points since the conclusion of the group stages.
Pep Guardiola’s side have racked up a jaw-dropping 35 points from a possible 39, with Barcelona following close behind on 32 from 36.
With the impending set of fixtures just a matter of hours away, Sportsmail takes you through some of the more intriguing odds.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are seven points clear at the Premier League summit
Champions League odds: Favourite to win
Let’s start with the favourites to win the tournament as a whole, and there are some serious candidates, with reigning champions Bayern Munich looking strong once again this year.
The German giants were simply sensational on route to the prestigious title last season, defeating Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in the final to set a new record of winning every single game throughout the campaign.
They topped a tricky group this season consisting of both Atletico Madrid and RB Salzburg with five wins and a draw and are currently top of the Bundesliga table having lost just two from 21.
Elsewhere, after a difficult start to the season, Barcelona are now in a superb run of form, having secured seven La Liga wins on the bounce.
However, neither Barcelona or Bayern Munich are the odds on favourites to win this year. That title, in fact, goes to Manchester City.
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Manchester City | 11/4 |
| Bayern Munich | 16/5 |
| Liverpool | 8/1 |
| Paris Saint-Germain | 10/1 |
| Barcelona | 12/1 |
| Atletico Madrid | 12/1 |
| Real Madrid | 14/1 |
| Chelsea | 20/1 |
| Borussia Dortmund | 22/1 |
| RB Leipzig | 25/1 |
| *All odds throughout are provided by Betfair | |
Champions League odds: Top scorer
Erling Haaland has been in sublime form domestically and in Europe for Borussia Dortmund
If picking a favourite to win the tournament as a whole is hard, then deciding a top scorer is almost impossible.
The Champions League hosts the majority of Europe’s top strikers, though Tottenham’s Harry Kane may tell you otherwise this season.
As things stand, Erling Haaland, Alvaro Morata, Neymar and Marcus Rashford are tied for the top scorer spot on six goals.
Of course, Manchester United were knocked out in the group stages, so Rashford won’t be taking the crown this year.
However, there are numerous other candidates to consider, with Lionel Messi on three, while Cristiano Ronaldo is on four.
You can also never rule out goal machine Robert Lewandowski, who claimed the top scorer position in last year’s competition with 15 goals.
| Player | Top scorer odds |
|---|---|
| Erling Haaland | 4/1 |
| Robert Lewandowski | 9/2 |
| Neymar | 6/1 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | 6/1 |
| Alvaro Morata | 9/1 |
| Lionel Messi | 12/1 |
| Kylian Mbappe | 14/1 |
| Karim Benzema | 16/1 |
| Mohamed Salah | 20/1 |
| Youssef En-Nesyri | 20/1 |
Champions League odds: Winning nation
While it’s tough to predict the winning team or who will claim the golden boot, it’s perhaps slightly easier to make an educated guess on the eventual winning nation.
There are six remaining in the competition, being England, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal and Italy.
Of those, Germany and Spain are leading the way with four remaining teams each, while England and Italy have three. Meanwhile, France and Portugal have just one team remaining to represent them in PSG and FC Porto.
Despite having fewer representatives than both Spain and Germany, it’s England who are the favourite nation to prevail, of course largely thanks to Manchester City’s participation.
| Nation | Odds |
|---|---|
| England | 6/4 |
| Germany | 15/8 |
| Spain | 7/2 |
| Italy | 8/1 |
| France | 10/1 |
| Portugal | 200/1 |
Champions League odds: The finalists
Finally, we have the odds for the Champions League final pairing, who we will see in action on Saturday, May 29.
You can, of course, somewhat predict who will be considered the most likely to reach the final via the outright odds, however it is still intriguing to look at the potential match-up at hand.
With Manchester City favourites to win the tournament as a whole, they make up the top three potential pairings, the third of which is a mouth-watering clash with Liverpool.
| Team pairing | Odds for the pairing to reach the final |
|---|---|
| Manchester City & Bayern Munich | 7/1 |
| Manchester City & Paris Saint-Germain | 14/1 |
| Manchester City & Liverpool | 16/1 |
| Paris Saint-Germain & Bayern Munich | 17/1 |
| Manchester City & Juventus | 17/1 |
| Liverpool & Bayern Munich | 18/1 |
| Manchester City & Barcelona | 19/1 |
| Barcelona & Bayern Munich | 20/1 |
| Real Madrid & Bayern Munich | 22/1 |
| Juventus & Bayern Munich | 22/1 |
Champions League: How to watch each game
| Fixture | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|
| RB Leipzig vs Liverpool | February 16 (BT 2) | March 10 (BT 2) |
| Barcelona vs Paris Saint-Germain | February 16 (BT 3) | March 10 (BT 3) |
| FC Porto vs Juventus | February 17 (BT 2) | March 9 (BT 2) |
| Sevilla vs Borussia Dortmund | February 17 (BT 3) | March 9 (BT 3) |
| Atletico Madrid vs Chelsea | February 23 (BT 2) | March 17 (TBC) |
| Lazio vs Bayern Munich | February 23 (BT 3) | March 17 (TBC) |
| Borussia Moenchengladbach vs Manchester City | February 24 (BT 2) | March 16 (TBC) |
| Atalanta vs Real Madrid | February 24 (BT 3) | March 16 (TBC) |