Champions League Betting Guide

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) organises the Champions League, which has become the richest club football competition in the world. The success of the yearly competition has built year on year, and now attracts the very best players on the planet to the clubs who compete in it.

In this Champions League betting guide, we will look at what the Champions League actually is, the schedule for the knockout stages, which teams are left and might dispute the final, as well as how to bet on the competition.

What is the Champions League?

Sometimes abbreviated to the UCL (UEFA Champions League) the tournament is organised by UEFA and is contested by 32 elite clubs from Europe’s top divisions. The group stages are played in a round-robin format, before the knockout stages are played over two-legs. The final, which is one of the biggest sporting events in the world, attracting a TV audience of millions, is played as a single leg tie.

Often, the clubs who have qualified for the Champions League have won their domestic division the season previously, but some of the biggest leagues in the world, such as the English Premier League, have up to four teams who are able to qualify.

Founded in 1955, the Champions League was originally known as the Coupe des Clubs Champions Européens, or more commonly, the European Cup. Originally held as a straight knockout competition only open to the champions of Europe’s biggest domestic leagues, the tournament changed its format to add the round-robin group stage in 1991, before changing its name to the Champions League in 1992.

By the 1997/98 season, some countries were allowed multiple entrants to expand the competition further, which helped to make it the richest club competition on the planet. In its current format, the Champions League begins in late June. Preliminary rounds establish six qualifiers who join 26 clubs who have automatically qualified due to their finishing league position in domestic competition. Following the group and knockout stages, the final is ultimately played in late May or early June each year.

Since its inception in 1955, Spanish clubs have enjoyed the most success with 19 titles. Fourteen of these have come via Real Madrid, who won the first five stagings of the competition and who are the current Champions of Europe having beaten Liverpool 1-0 in the final last year. England are next on the list with their clubs boasting 14 titles, just ahead of Italian clubs who have won the tournament on 12 occasions.

Champions League 2022/2023 Schedule

Following the conclusion of the group stages in this year’s competition, we are down to 16 clubs who will compete in the knockout stages. The first leg of Round of 16 takes place between 14-22 February, with the second leg ties set to be played between 7-15 March.

The knockout draw for this round has thrown up some fascinating ties and none bigger than a repeat of last year’s final. Current holders and the most successful club in the history of the tournament, Real Madrid, will face Liverpool at Anfield in the first leg on February 21, before a second leg tie at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid on March 15.

Elsewhere, big spending Paris Saint Germain face another giant of European football, Bayern Munich, who have won the competition on six occasions. Seven time champions, AC Milan, play Tottenham Hotspur, and 2021 winners, Chelsea, will hope to progress past 1997 winners, Borussia Dortmund.

The teams who progress from the round of 16 will advance to the quarter-finals, which are again a two-legged tie and will be played on April 11 and 18. The Semi-finals are then due to be staged on May 9 and 16, with the showpiece final taking place on Saturday, June 10 at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey.

Champions League Strongest Teams

Despite having never won the UEFA Champions League, Manchester City has spent time and money to build a squad to eventually win the competition. Although they lost in the 2021 final to Chelsea, Manchester City continues to be a strong team and are certainly one that all the other clubs will want to avoid. Their squad is strong and has been further enhanced by the signing of Erling Haaland, who has taken the Premier League by storm this season. RB Leipzig are up next in the knockout stages for City and the English side will be favourites to progress to the quarter-finals.

The second and third favourites, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint Germain, respectively, face each other in the round of 16, in what is sure to be an incredible two games. Paris Saint Germain boasts the competition's two leading goal scorers in Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi, both of whom helped light up the recent World Cup in Qatar. However, Bayern will be a tough team to beat over two legs and is a tie to keep an eye on.

Liverpool are fourth favourites despite them having a poor domestic campaign and the fact that they have to face the current European Champions, Real Madrid, who are joint fifth favourites.

One of the dark horses for the competition could be Napoli, who are currently enjoying an unbeaten start to their Serie A season in Italy. They also looked very impressive when qualifying as winners of their group in the previous stage.

Champions League Betting Lines

The most popular Champions League betting lines are the ‘Outright’ markets. These will include a team to win the overall competition, for a club to progress through their tie, or for a side to simply to win a game.

Other Champions League betting lines will be more specific to individual games and can include first goal scorer, how many goals will be scored in a game, i.e. Over/Under 2.5 goals, or booking points where you can wager on how many Yellow or Red cards might be handed out in a specific match.

How to bet on Champions League

Betting on Champions League games is very straightforward. First, you must navigate your way to the sports betting page and select ‘Browse Sports’. Football will commonly be one of the first sports you’ll see. Then, click on ‘International’ and scroll to the Champions League tick box.

Simply tick this box and click ‘Apply’ and you will be taken to hundreds of different markets that will be for ‘Events’ markets or ‘Outright’ markets.

The Events markets are where you can bet on specific games that are coming up or are due to be played, whilst the Outright markets focus on the Champions League winner, top goal scorer, top assists in the tournament, etc.

Champions League Betting tips

No matter what type of market you are looking to place a Champions League bet on, it is important to do your research to give yourself the best chance of placing a winning bet. Whether one team will beat another can easily be swayed if a certain player is ruled out with injury or is suspended.

If you are looking to place an Outright bet on a team to win the competition, look at which clubs are left in the tournament and who they might face in the next stage.

Another popular Outright market is for the top goal scorer in the competition. The leading goal scorer will often play for a team who makes the final, so this should be considered when looking at this betting line.

Champions League FAQ

Which teams have won the Champions League the most times?

Reigning champions Real Madrid have won the UEFA Champions League 14 times, making them the most successful team in UCL history. Italy’s AC Milan are second on the list with seven titles, whilst Bayern Munich of Germany and England’s Liverpool have won the tournament on six occasions each.

Barcelona has won the competition five times, with other notable titles being won by Ajax (4), Manchester United (3), Inter Milan (3), Juventus (2), Benfica (2), Nottingham Forest (2), FC Porto (2), and Chelsea (2). Altogether, there have been 22 different UCL champions since 1955.

What team is favourite to win the Champions League in 2023?

Manchester City is the current favourite to win the Champions League in 2023.

How are teams seeded in Champions League?

For the group stages, the current Champions League holders, the winners of the Europa Leagues, and the champions of the top six national leagues based on UEFA country coefficients (highest-ranked leagues) will be highest ranked. Other clubs will then be ranked according to a team's UEFA club coefficient (how well they have fared in previous UEFA competitions).

How is UEFA ranking calculated?

A club's UEFA ranking takes into account their previous results in UEFA Club Competitions based on the past 5-years. This also helps to determine where a club will be seeded if they did not win their domestic league.