Who will win the Champions League in 2020?

Best bets

Bayern Munich
1pt 7-1 bet365
Back this tip with bet365

Advised on September 17

Paris St-Germain
1pt 11-1 RedZone
Liverpool
1pt 13-2 general

Champions League betting preview

The phoney war is over. Let the true battle commence.

For many observers the Champions League group stage highlights much of what is wrong with modern football as the cash-rich clubs at the top continually hammer their poorer continental cousins, a charade of a so-called competition that pays mere lip service to the claim that teams are on an equal footing.

Manchester City’s two-year ban for breaching financial fair play regulations will only increase the spotlight on that disparity. For some FFP is absolutely necessary to try to establish equilibrium; for others it is about attempting to stop upstarts upsetting the status quo.

This will be the first time the Champions League knockout phase has started with participants from solely Europe's five biggest leagues – England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France. While the morality of the whole thing will be questioned it is probably the greatest last-16 line-up in the history of the competition.

The Champions League knockout games feature the best of the best, with remarkable stories told night after night and, if your moral compass allows, there is a feast to be consumed at Europe's top table.

Last season definitely had it all, from Ajax's kids giving Real Madrid's superstars the runaround to Marcus Rashford's last-gasp penalty somehow steering Manchester United to success over Paris St-Germain. And that was just the last 16.

Ajax showed that their mauling of Madrid was no fluke by repeating the trick against Juventus, who themselves came back from the dead against Atletico in the last 16. And Tottenham's against-the-odds triumph to see off City remains difficult to digest even several months on after Raheem Sterling's injury-time 'winner' was ruled out by VAR on a night of Manchester madness.

There were five goals in the first 21 minutes at the Etihad yet still the quarter-finals had nothing on the semis.

Anfield, awash with emotion, played the perfect host as Liverpool overturned a 3-0 deficit to blitz Barcelona 4-0 – the biggest semi-final comeback in 33 years – and the next evening Lucas Moura's Amsterdam hat-trick gave Spurs an away-goal victory over Ajax from 3-0 down with the killer goal arriving with 95:01 on the clock.

Uefa's technical report suggested there had never been back-to-back nights like it in the European Cup's 64-year history and by the time substitute Divock Origi scored to give Liverpool a 2-0 final win over Spurs in Madrid there had been 91 goals in 29 knockout games.

Liverpool have rock-solid claims to defend the trophy. A record-breaking start to this season's Premier League means they are almost certain to end their 30-year wait for a domestic title.

The front three of Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah flanking Roberto Firmino is poetry in motion, the midfield presses with energy and brains to allow flying full-backs Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold to terrorise opponents, with outstanding centre-back Virgil van Dijk providing the defensive safety net.

If you get past all of that there is still the small matter of goalkeeper Alisson to overcome.

It's quite easy to make a case that the Merseysiders should be favourites, not least because they are a distance in front of City domestically. Of the pair it is Pep Guardiola's side who have been dealt the more hazardous last-16 tie.

On paper Atletico are dangerous customers for Liverpool as a defensive outfit with the required nous not to be hit on the break. However, they seem to have totally lost their mojo under Diego Simeone.

The opposite is true across the city as Real Madrid hit top form for Zinedine Zidane, the Champions League coach extraordinaire. Zidane has been involved in Europe's premier club competition three times and won it on every occasion.

Madrid should pose a real danger to last-16 opponents City who, according to expected goals, are still the best side in Europe.

But they have been so wasteful in front of goal and have also been committing the kind of individual defensive errors that make it difficult to recommend them as favourites. And that is even before considering the pressure of this potentially being the last-chance saloon for Guardiola’s City given their impending ban.

Liverpool would be the pick of the front two although the Champions League is super competitive at the business end and that helps to explain why Lionel Messi's Barcelona are 7-1, Neymar's Paris St-Germain are 15-2 and Cristiano Ronaldo's Juventus can be backed at 12-1.

The front seven in the market – City, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Barca, PSG, Juve and Real Madrid – all hold genuine claims on their day and the Germans are serious contenders.

Bayern's decision to sack Niko Kovac, replacing him with Hansi Flick, appears to have made a significant difference to a dressing-room that was clearly deflated despite smashing seven past Spurs in the group stage.

Robert Lewandowski is the top scorer in this season's competition, there is pace to burn on the flanks through Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman, and a plethora of midfield options in Philippe Coutinho, Thiago Alcantara, Corentin Tolisso, Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich.

Flick, unlike Kovac, will also have the benefit of club-record signing Lucas Hernandez at the heart of Bayern's defence after the World Cup winner recently returned from a long injury absence.

Bayern look well-equipped to see off a Chelsea side who fail to convince defensively and from the quarter-finals onwards it will come down to small details and good old lady luck.

It would be absurd to rule out Barcelona with Messi still around. On the evidence of this season, however, they look short of energy in midfield and are increasingly vulnerable in away matches as well as being too reliant on their Argentinian ace.

PSG look set for a high-scoring shootout against Borussia Dortmund and whether Thomas Tuchel can get the balance right between defence and offence will be key for a side blessed with Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Angel Di Maria in the final third.

Juventus, with a plum draw against Lyon and Ronaldo in prime form, are interesting contenders at a double-figure price.

But the Old Lady are no longer as dominant domestically, as highlighted by away defeats to Lazio, Verona and Napoli, and apart from Ronaldo few players are functioning at the top of their game for under-fire boss Maurizio Sarri.

Whatever happens the road to Istanbul for the eventual champions will be a long and difficult one and it is Liverpool and Bayern who look best-placed for Turkish delight on May 30.

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