Based on the group stage, which club do you think will win the Champions League?
The CL group stage is done and dusted, at last. The 16 teams who made it through are the usual suspects plus some interesting dark horses:
Group winners
Bordeaux
Manchester United
Real Madrid
Chelsea
Fiorentina
Barcelona
Sevilla
Arsenal
Group runners-up
Bayern Munich
CSKA Moscow
AC Milan
Porto
Lyon
Inter
Stuttgart
Olympiacos
A very strong-looking line-up. Here’s how the bookies (Paddy Power) see it:
Barcelona 7/2
Chelsea 7/2
Real Madrid 11/2
Man Utd 13/2
Arsenal 8/1
Inter 12/1
Bayern Munich 18/1
Seville 18/1
AC Milan 20/1
Lyon 25/1
Fiorentina 33/1
Bordeaux 33/1
Porto 50/1
Stuttgart 80/1
CSKA Moscow 100/1
Olympiacos 100/1
That seems about right, though given how well they qualified, Bordeaux look an each-way bargain at 33s. Fiorentina could also be worth a small punt at the same price, while Seville are a very dangerous team and look slightly overpriced at 18/1.
Jose Mourinho is a manager with a magic touch and his Inter team has enough quality to go deep into the competition also – 12/1 looks a trifle long for them, whereas 8/1 for an Arsenal side without the services of Robin van Persie is no value at all; I just can’t see Wenger’s boys going all the way this season.
Chelsea and Barcelona co-favourites? I guess so. They are probably the two strongest teams in Europe right now, albeit for very different reasons.
A lot depends on the luck of the draw now, but which team do you fancy to win it, based on what you’ve seen in the group stage?
Neck on the block, I’m going for a C-Ron-inspired Real Madrid to beat Seville in an all-Spanish final.
Let’s ‘ave your predictions…
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Barcelona. Last night, Pique, Busquets, Ibra, and Alves all played poorly and they still won.
Chelsea is a very strong team, both technically and physically. I think it is the only team who could beat Barcelona this year.
About the qualification of Bordeaux, it’s true that they got the best points score during the first round, but Juve and Bayern were quite easy to beat this year. I wouldn’t be surprise to see Bayern’s european season ending on the next round…
This is Liverpools year…
Chringle, I think you might be right.
im fearing my £50 investment at the start of the season on rangers to win the champs, may not have worked out as well as iyd hoped. damn you scotland and all your teams!
Ha! Real Madrid and Sevilla in the final. Now way mate. Barcelona to beat Bordeaux in the final.
hahahahah who said liverpool was going to win. they’ll be out of the champions league quicker than rafa can mispronounce gerrard’s name
man utd
Its not gonna happen but bordeaux wer d best team in d groups. real madrid 2 win though – cunts
Time for Chelski to step up I think. Either that or a complete outsider, Barca and Real concede too much, unpredictable
arsenal to pull off stunning victories through to the final- arsenal chelsea final