A new year brings with it renewed hope and dreams of better things to come. For the 16 teams that remain in the Champions League, ambitions of success on the grandest stage of all are in hand.
But there are sides that are more readily fancied by the betting community than others, so who should be the focus of your wagers in the coming months ahead?
The Reigning Champions: Real Madrid
There is no better place to start an examination of the Champions League runners and riders than Real Madrid, who of course lifted this trophy at the business end of the 2015/16 campaign.
The progress of the Galacticos has been rather stodgy this time around however, and with three draws in their six matches they could only finish second in Group F behind Borussia Dortmund.
At the time of writing they remain undefeated in La Liga, which shows that at least they are showing trophy-winning form on the domestic front, and we expect Zinedine Zidane’s side to improve in the new year when they welcome back Gareth Bale from injury amongst others.
An advantage that Real Madrid boast over their competitors is that they are the most decorated team in European Cup/Champions League history with eleven wins, and no club has appeared in more finals of this competition (14).
With two of those victories coming in the past three years, we can expect Cristiano Ronaldo and co to go deep once again, and an agreeable last 16 draw against Napoli only adds fuel to the fire. At a best price of 5/1, they are outstanding value.
The Form Horse: Juventus
Of all the continent’s elite teams, few can claim to be in as good a run of form as Juventus right now.
They romped through Group H in unbeaten fashion – no mean feat seeing as they were drawn against Sevilla and Lyon, and at the time of going to press had won eleven of their prior thirteen matches in Serie A.
The Old Lady were weakened by the departure of Paul Pogba, a key cog in their midfield, but the added impetus brought about by the goals of Gonzalo Higuain offers them an excellent opportunity to progress in this competition.
The continued improvement of Paulo Dybala, who is capable of creating a moment of magic in the blink of an eye, means that Juventus have a genuine match-winner in their midst; crucial in going the distance in knockout play.
The Happy Draw: Barcelona
The bookmakers favourite for the Champions League will always be well invested in thanks, largely, to their front three of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar, and in some of the tighter matches that this competition brings clearly having players that can produce a deadlock-breaking finish or bit of skill is a great help.
A return of just one win in five years – by their own high standards – is surprisingly low, and the defeat to Manchester City in Group C, while slightly unlucky with key players suffering injuries, suggests that the Catalan side still hold a certain fragility when taking on elite opposition.
That said, their five wins in the group stage were all secured with relative ease – four of which came by a margin of two goals or more, and while they will be disappointed to have dropped so many points in La Liga they have shown glimpses of their rampant best this term.
But a knack of conceding goals – they have shipped in 10/16 in La Liga this term at the time of writing – means that they are vulnerable to yielding an away goal or two: a definite no-no when aiming to progress in knockout football.
As such, their best price of 7/2 looks rather short at this early stage of proceedings.
The Big Game Player: Bayern Munich
The consensus of Bayern Munich 2.0 under Carlo Ancelotti is that the jury remains very much out on their credentials, but a quick look at their Champions League history in recent years suggests that punters should write off the German champions at their peril.
Since the 2011/12 campaign, Bayern have finished runners-up in this tournament, won it and reached three consecutive semi-finals – not bad progress, by any means. So no matter how unconvincing their form line is, we must respect their record in this competition.
Defeats to Atletico Madrid and Rostov condemned Ancelotti’s men to second place in Group D, while on the domestic front a loss to rivals Dortmund was hard to take. But they remain ruthlessly efficient at their Allianz Arena home – W6 D2 L0 in the Bundesliga and W3 D0 L0 in the Champions League, and so if they get a positive result there against Arsenal in the last 16, and find the net at the Emirates Stadium, then they should progress with relative ease. From there, the Germans will be a dangerous opponent for anybody.
The Wild Card: Borussia Dortmund
Speaking of dangerous German sides, how about the goal-power of Borussia Dortmund for your outside bet at 12/1?
Thomas Tuchel’s found the net more times than any other side during the group phase of the competition, and they’ve been up to their old tricks in the Bundesliga too where they are scoring at a rate of greater than two goals per game.
A pair of stalemates with Real Madrid, and a win over Bayern Munich, confirm that the famous yellow-and-blacks are a force to be reckoned with. A last 16 date with Benfica is agreeable, and as long as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and chums continue to find the net with regularity they will be a team that every other wants to avoid in the quarter-final draw.
The History-Maker: Leicester City
Leicester City have created history not once but twice in 2016: first by winning the Premier League title, and then by progressing from Group G in their first tilt at Champions League glory. If lightning strikes thrice, maybe the Foxes can go on to lift this famous trophy too?
Okay, so it’s hugely unlikely, but their last 16 draw with Sevilla offers an opportunity. The Spaniards are an outstanding side of course, but their relative fallibility on the road – W5 D5 L3 is their return from competitive fixtures so far this season – suggests that if Claudio Ranieri’s side can somehow get a result in Seville, and that includes a narrow defeat, then they have the ammunition to gain the upper hand in the tie on home soil.
As we know, any side in the quarter-finals is a dangerous entity. Who knows how far these Foxes can go.
