Champions League 2024/25: Betting reaction, fixture lists & more

• Man City cut from 5/2 into 2/13.00 following draw

• Haaland installed as Golden Boot favourite

• Three English sides odds-on for top-eight finish

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Outrights

Favourites Manchester City were cut from 5/2 to 2/13.00 for Champions League glory by the Betfair Sportsbook after the draw was made in Monte Carlo.

Each of the 36 teams found out who they will play in the new 'league phase' of the competition which will see them all put into one league table.

The top eight will progress diretcly to the last 16 with the sides finishing ninth to 24^th entering play-offs.

Having been drawn against Inter Milan (home) and Paris Saint-Germain (away) from the top pot of seeds, the layers saw fit to trim City's odds of regaining the trophy they won in 2022/23.

They will also travel to Juventus and Sporting Lisbon, but home games with Club Brugge, Feyenoord and Sparta Prague all look very winnable.

In contrast, holders Real Madrid were pushed out - from 3/1 to 7/24.50 - after they were handed a rematch of last year's final against Borussia Dortmund (in Spain) and also a trip to Anfield to face Liverpool.

City are even money to reach the final, with Real 6/42.50 in the same market.

Liverpool, finalists in three of the last seven seasons, were left unchanged at 14/115.00 after it was revealed Arne Slot's side will face trips to RB Leipzig and AC Milan, but Arsenal were moved into 8/19.00 (from 10s), a price which makes them third favourites ahead of Bayern Munich (12/113.00).

The Gunners will host PSG and face some potentially awkward away games at Inter Milan, Atalanta and Girona.

Barcelona are are 14/115.00 and it's 20/121.00 bar.

Aston Villa, back in the competition for the first time in 40 years, are 66/167.00 chances. They will face Celtic, among others, who are rank outsiders at 250/1251.00.

Betfair also have a market regarding who will finish top of the league phase. Again, City are favourites, this time at 3/14.00 ahead of Real at 5/16.00.

At the other end of the scale, Slovakia's Slovan Bratislava are favourites to finish bottom of the league phase standings at 10/34.33.

A full list of fixtures for the English sides, including dates and kick-off times, is shown below.

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Top goalscorer

Unsurprisingly, Erling Haaland has been chalked up as the favourite to be the top scorer in the 2024/25 Champions League.

Haaland, an 11/43.75 chance, finished top of the goal charts with 12 when Manchester City won the trophy in 2022/23. He is playing for the favourites once again and will do so having had the summer off, unlike many of his market rivals, as Norway failed to qualify for Euro 2024.

Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane shared the Golden Boot prize last season with eight goals - the first time in 14 years that a player had failed to hit double figures.

The chances of eight being enough to win the gong this season look remote with the winners guaranteed to play at least two more matches, possibly four.

Now at Real Madrid having left PSG, Mbappe is the 5/16.00 second favourite, just ahead of Bayern Munich striker Kane, who is a 6/17.00 shot.

Liverpool's Mo Salah, who has scored in both of his Premier League games so far this season, is a 12/113.00 chance.

Despite being third favourites, Arsenal have no-one near the head of the market.

Their shortest-priced players in it are Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka, both at 40/141.00.

Bayern's Jamal Musiala, who finished joint top scorer at Euro 2024, looks like he could attract some money at 33/134.00.

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Top-eight finish

Six teams have been chalked up at odds-on to finish in the top eight of the league phase, including English representatives Manchester City (1/91.11), Arsenal (2/51.40) and Liverpool (8/111.73).

The others are Real Madrid (1/41.25), Bayern Munich (8/151.53) and Barcelona (8/111.73).

The market suggests Bayer Leverkusen (13/102.30) will also be going straight through to the last 16, along with one of PSG, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid - all are offered at 7/52.40.

The key to betting on this market will be understanding what will be required to progress out of the league phase.

Under the previous format, you'd have started by targeting 10 points - only one team in the last five years failed to reack the knockout stage having reached double figures.

But the new format and no 'previous' to go on makes things somewhat difficult to predict.

That's where UEFA's modelling comes in. They've run simulations to look at how the competition will tend to play out from now on.

That modelling showed that the average points needed to finish in the top eight was 17.1, the basic equivalent of five wins and two draws from the eight matches.

As for a top-24 finish, the average points required was 7.6 - essentially two wins and two draws. Or, if you want to think outside the box, eight draws!

Aston Villa are out at 10/34.33 for the top eight but the good news for the Premier League club is that they are odds-on to finish between ninth and 24th, which would put them into a knockout round play-off.

At 1/41.25, Unai Emery's team are actually the shorest-priced team in that market, which essentially means the Betfair traders expect them to collect around 12-13 points from their eight games.

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Matches

The matchday one fixtures have now been priced up on the Betfair Sportsbook with all four English sides odds-on to make a winning start.

Aston Villa are among the teams who will get the competition started on September 17 and they are 8/151.53 to win their early kick-off away to Young Boys in Switzerland.

Later that night, Liverpool travel to AC Milan and they are 5/61.84 to win in the San Siro.

The following evening, Manchester City host Inter Milan and they are just 4/111.36 to win what will be a repeat of the 2023 final.

Arsenal start their campaign on September 19 and they are 8/111.73 to win away to Atalanta.

The four-fold pays just over 11/26.50.

Meanwhile, Celtic are just 3/101.30 to pick up three points from their opening game at home to Slovan Bratislava.

The shortest-priced favourites on matchday one are Bayern Munich (1/101.10), who host Dinamo Zagreb.

The most competitive fixture, according to the odds, is Sparta Prague v RB Salzburg. It is the only one of the 18 games not to have an odds-on favourite with the hosts 6/52.20 for victory and the visitors at 6/42.50.

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Key format info

As already explained, the 2024/25 Champions League brings with it a new, expanded format with 36 teams now featuring in the competition 'proper', four more than last season.

Here's what you need to know, bitesize style:

• The 36 teams compete in one big league. It is often referred to as the Swiss model.
• Each team plays eight matches, four at home and four away, but each game is against a different opponent.
• The top eight at the end of the 'league phase' progress straight to the last 16. If the seedings (based on UEFA rankings) play out, these will be Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig. However, the odds suggest differently (see above).
• Teams finishing from 9^th to 24^th will contest the play-off round. Those UEFA rankings have Arsenal and Barcelona in this section, although the odds do not. Ties will be contested over two legs with the winners progressing to the last 16.
• The teams finishing in the bottom 12 places (25^th to 36^th) will be eliminated from the competition. They will not drop down into the Europa League either.
• For the knockout stage (play-offs onwards), a draw bracket will be in use, as opposed to a random draw. For example, the teams finishing 9^th and 10^th will be drawn against those finishing 23^rd and 24^th in the play-off round.

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2024/25 UEFA Champions League fixtures

We've listed out the full fixtures for the four English sides in this season's Champions League below. Unless stated, all matches kick off at 2000 UK time.

Manchester City

To win: 2/13.00; Top-eight finish: 1/91.11

Look the team to beat again - have been sent off favourites for several years on the spin now.

Wed Sep 18 - Inter Milan H
Tue Oct 1 - Slovan Bratislava A
Wed Oct 23 - Sparta Prague H
Tue Nov 5 - Sporting Lisbon A
Tue Nov 26 - Feyenoord H
Wed Dec 11 - Juventus A
Wed Jan 22 - PSG A
Wed Jan 29 - Club Brugge H

Best Champions League finish: Winners (2022/23)

Arsenal

To win: 8/19.00; Top-eight finish: 2/51.40

The Premier League's claim to be Europe's top domestic league is given extra weight by Arsenal's position as third favourites. But this side has yet to win anything of note...

Wed Sep 19 - Atalanta A
Tue Oct 1 - PSG H
Tue Oct 22 - Shakhtar Donetsk H
Wed Nov 6 - Inter Milan A
Tue Nov 26 - Sporting Lisbon A
Wed Dec 11 - Monaco H
Wed Jan 22 - Dinamo Zagreb H
Wed Jan 29 - Girona A

Best Champions League finish: Runners-up (2005/06)

Liverpool

To win: 14/115.00; Top-eight finish: 8/111.73

Hardened European campaigners, always tough to beat at Anfield. But will Arne Slot be able to produce the sort of results and performances in this competition that Jurgen Klopp did?

Tue Sep 17 - AC Milan A
Wed Oct 2 - Bologna H
Wed Oct 23 - RB Leipzig A
Tue Nov 5 - Bayer Leverkusen H
Wed Nov 27 - Real Madrid H
Tue Dec 10 - Girona A (1745)
Tue Jan 21 - Lille H
Wed Jan 29 - PSV Eindhoven A

Best Champions League finish: Winners (six times)

Aston Villa

To win: 66/167.00; Top-eight finish: 10/34.33

Just happy to be dining at Europe's top table again after more than 40 years away. You have to be old to remember Peter Withe's winner in the 1982 final against Bayern Munich!

Tue Sep 17 - Young Boys A (1745)
Wed Oct 2 - Bayern Munich H
Tue Oct 22 - Bologna H
Wed Nov 6 - Club Brugge A (1745)
Wed Nov 27 - Juventus H
Tue Dec 10 - RB Leipzig A
Tue Jan 21 - Monaco A (1745)
Wed Jan 29 - Celtic H

Best Champions League finish: Winners (1981/82)

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2024/25 Champions League calendar

Matchday 1: September 17-19
Matchday 2: October 1-2
Matchday 3: October 22-23
Matchday 4: November 5-6
Matchday 5: November 26-27
Matchday 6: December 10-11
Matchday 7: January 21-22
Matchday 8: January 29
Knockout round play-offs: February 11-12 & 18-19
Last 16: March 4-5 & 11-12
Quarter-finals: April 8-9 & 15-16
Semi-finals: April 29-30 & May 6-7
Final: May 31

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Now read more of how the new format will work here!

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