Favourites for the Champions League this season Manchester City were shocked at home to Lyon tonight with a 2-1 defeat. Many of their players were off the boil and with Pep Guardiola watching on from the stands, he was unable to do anything about their below par performance. That heaps the pressure on their other group games and they are now at risk of not even making it into the knockout stages, which was unthinkable at the start of the night.
The bookies have also loosened the leash on the potential champions given the fact that no side has won the Champions League after losing their opening game of the competition. City’s odds have drifted already and they have gone from 5/1 favourites out to 6/1 in places, meaning they are now no longer favourites to lift the big old trophy in May.
That new mantle is taken on by a side who were on top from last night Barcelona. A Lionel Messi hat-trick eased them past PSV Eindhoven and they are now favourites to win Europe’s most prestigious competition. If they continue the form they showed last year in La Liga, they will be a difficult team to beat although they did suffer a collapse in Rome at the quarter-final stage of Champions League.
Despite Ronaldo’s sending off, Juventus’ odds have also come in to 7/1 whilst Bayern Munich are now 13/2 after an impressive win. Liverpool are being heavily backed by punters and have come from 12/1 at the start of the week into 7/1 now, making them one of the favourites to go one further than they managed last season.
Of course, you can never rule out the defending champions and Real Madrid can be backed at 8/1. A long price for a team with such heritage in this competition.
