Defending champion Bayern Munich and Manchester City will kick off the 2020-21 UEFA Champions League as the co-favorites to lift the European Cup in Istanbul, hopefully in late May.
But is that a good thing for the favorites? You would think so, but maybe not.
Research by betting firm unikrn shows that only two of the last 10 UEFA Champions League winners were favorites: Barcelona (5/2, +250) in 2010/11 and Real Madrid (4/1, +400) in 2017/18.
The average odds of Champions League winners in the last 10 years is 13/2 (+650), which matches Liverpool’s odds for this year’s competition. Could that be an omen? Although those odds could start to fall with the loss of Virgil van Dijk to an ACL tear over the weekend.
Bayern Munich and Manchester City are priced at +400, while Barcelona (which has been favorites in six of the last ten competitions; more than anyone else), is +1200. PSG, which made its first final in the club’s history back in August, is +1000.
2020/21 Champions League winner via Unikrn
Bayern Munich 4/1 (+400)
Manchester City 4/1 (+400)
Liverpool 13/2 (+650)
PSG 10/1 (+1000)
Barcelona 12/1 (+1200)
Real Madrid 12/1 (+1200)
Juventus 14/1 (+1400)
Atlético Madrid 20/1 (+2000)
Chelsea 20/1 (+2000)
Manchester United 25/1 (+2500)
Borussia Dortmund 25/1 (+2500)
(Rest 33/1 (+3300) or higher)