Last night’s chastening defeat at the hands of Paris Saint Germain have seen Liverpool’s odds of going one better than last year’s runners-up slot drift from a pre-match 12-1 to a general 16-1.
Jurgen Klopp’s men will now, in all likelihood, have to defeat Carlo Ancelotti's Napoli by two clear goals on the final matchday of the group stages to progress through to the knockout rounds.
Given that the Reds are odds-against at around 6/4 to manage even that feat, their outright odds for the competition are slim enough to put even the most ardent of fans off re-upping on their Ante-post bets on them bringing home a sixth European Cup before christmas.
Underlining just how unappealing the price for their progression is from a punting standpoint, the two teams immediately above them in the betting are the city of Madrid’s pair of representatives in the competition.
Atletico Madrid, available at 14/1, top their group ahead of Borussia Dortmund and are in a strong position to stay there after vanquishing Monaco last night. Simeone’s men, who won the Europa League last season, had been ever-presents in the latter stages of the competition in recent years, reaching two finals in three years between 2014-16.
Their crosstown rivals, Real, might be having a season to forget on the domestic front after the departures of Cristiano Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane in the summer, but they still top their group, too, and are fancied to stay there after beating Roma 2-0 away from home on Tuesday.
Having won the competition an unprecedented three times on the spin, Real go for a fourth and are surely underestimated by odds of 12/1 available in places. Los Merengues have a knack for coming right in the springtime and all the experience in world to guide them through the latter stages.
Watching Liverpool’s performance last night and taking it into the context of their struggles on the road in Europe this season, it’s unfathomable that they should be within a couple of points in the betting of those two sides. They are, to be sure, prohibitively short at 16s.
(Paul McCartney is meant to be on somewhere in Paris as well)
