Outright Odds

Real Madrid are the current holders having beaten Borussia Dortmund in the 2024 final at Wembley Stadium.

However, the Spanish giants are not the current market leaders for the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League, with 2023 winners Manchester City the hot fancies to make it two triumphs in three seasons.

Next come Arsenal and Liverpool, with English Premier League sides clearly fancied to mount a huge challenge to the dominance of Real, who have won the competition in six of the last 11 years.

Outright odds

Manchester City - 3.25
Real Madrid - 4.00
Arsenal - 10.00
Liverpool - 11.00
Barcelona - 13.00
Bayern Munich - 13.00

Manchester City - 3.25

The Citizens remain unstoppable in the Premier League, having won four consecutive titles, before opening the new season with a penalty shootout win over city rivals United in the Community Shield.

Last season in the Champions League their reign was ended at the quarter-final stage by a penalty shootout loss to Real Madrid, who had been beaten by City in the last four the previous season, as the men from Manchester went on to become champions of Europe for the first time.

Pep Guardiola, now a three-time UEFA Champions League winner as a coach, has yet to make any major moves in the transfer market this summer, with Savinho’s arrival from Troyes helping to offset the exit of Atletico Madrid-bound Julian Alvarez.

City have reached at least the quarter-finals in each of the last seven seasons, so they are deservedly among the favourites once again.

Real Madrid - 4.00

Real Madrid are the undoubted kings of Europe with 15 successes across the entire history of the competition and six of those triumphs have come in the last 11 years.

They go into the 2024/25 tournament as the holders and now armed with arguably the best player on the planet, Kylian Mbappe, who was unable to take PSG all the way to the title.

Brazilian starlet Endrick has also moved to the Bernabeu, leaving Real with a wealth of talent in attack, the question is will they be able to find the right formula?

Carlo Ancelotti is the UEFA Champions League master with five titles to his name as a coach, although he does have the tricky task of trying to find a suitable replacement for the now retired Toni Kroos in the midfield engine room.

Arsenal - 10.00

Arsenal are the only one of the leading contenders yet to have tasted success in this competition, with their nearest miss coming in 2006 when they were beaten 2-1 in the final by Barcelona.

Having pushed City all the way for the Premier League title in each of the last two seasons, Mikel Arteta clearly has a side on the up and up and the addition of Italy international Riccardo Calafiori should give them added defensive steel.

However, the lack of an out-and-out goalscorer could well prove costly if they make their way through to the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League.

Liverpool - 11.00

Liverpool are one of the powerhouses of the competition, but they are starting a new era under the leadership of Arne Slot, with Jurgen Klopp having ended his hugely successful time at the Anfield helm.

Dutchman Slot appears to be wanting to alter the Reds' style of play slightly, while one of his big tests will be to try and get the very best out of Uruguayan striker Darwin Nunez - who can be deadly on his day, but also misses too many chances.

Having lost the 2022 final 1-0 to Real Madrid, Liverpool suffered a last-16 exit at the hands of the Spanish giants last season and, with no major incomings so far this summer, they may not have quite enough to reign the continent once again.

Barcelona - 13.00

Barcelona are still among the favourites for UEFA Champions League glory, but a decade has ticked by since their last success and the best they have managed since then is one journey to the semi-finals, in 2019.

Last season’s run to the quarter-finals was an improvement on group stage exits in each of the previous two campaigns, but the Catalans still look well short of being genuine contenders for glory this season, despite the addition of Spain ace Dani Olmo.

Bayern Munich - 13.00

Bayern Munich will be desperate to era the memories of last season, which saw the German domestic double completed by Bayer Leverkusen, while the Bavarian giants lost out 4-3 on aggregate to Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals.

Having failed to land any silverware for the first time since the 2011/12 season, they will be eager to put things right and will be hoping that former Premier League stars Michael Olise and Joao Palhinha can give them extra drive in midfield.