CL 2025/26 Preview – Who’s winning?
With the domestic leagues well underway and the first international break of the season over, it’s finally time for the return of the CL! PSG won 5-0 in last season’s final against Inter, so we’re not likely to see a similar result in this season’s final, but we certainly have a lot of great football action to look forward to. Let’s take a closer look at what to expect this season!
The Favourites
Last season’s winner PSG are amongst the top favourites to lift the trophy this season at 7.40, with Liverpool and Barcelona currently the only teams with a lower odds (7.00). Here is a list of the top 11 favourites (Napoli and Spurs are both on 26.00) to lift the CL trophy in Budapest, Hungary on 30 May.:
Liverpool – 7.00
Barcelona – 7.00
PSG – 7.40
Arsenal – 8.00
Real Madrid – 9.00
Man City – 10.00
Bayern Munich – 13.00
Chelsea – 13.00
Inter – 26.00
Napoli – 26.00
Tottenham – 26.00
Starting off with the more likely winners, Liverpool is off to a perfect start in the PL, though they left it late this weekend, beating Burnley 1-0 away thanks to a penalty in injury time. Slot’s side are expected to finish in the top 8, and even if they don’t anything else than a top 24 seems unthinkable. Barcelona are off to a good start in the league this season, and despite facing Newcastle in a tough away fixture in their opening game, they shouldn’t have any problems finishing top 8, and neither should PSG, despite struggling in last season’s league phase. Last year’s French champions were incredibly impressive in last year’s tournament after they had struggled initially, though, especially in the final where they beat Inter 5-0.
Arsenal have been making some moves in the transfer market this summer, and especially the acquisition of Madueke could prove vital for Arteta, having seen how dependent his side were on Saka’s presence. Eze has also arrived from Crystal Palace, as well as Gyokeres from Sporting. Could this be the year where Arsenal finally get things going in Europe and go all the way? They are currently at 8.00 to win the tournament and 4.30 to reach the final.
Moving on to Real Madrid, the Spaniards have had a perfect start to their league season, winning their first four matches. The Spanish giants have won the tournament 15 times, and would love to add to their tally. They are at 5.00 to reach the final, but have to accept that Barcelona are bigger favourites to become the top Spanish team in the league phase, with their rivals at 1.90 and Real Madrid at 3.00. The Spaniards are at 11.00 to become league phase winners.
Man City finally won the tournament back in 2023, but failed to make much of an impact last season, when they were knocked out already in the knockout phase playoffs against Real Madrid. Pep’s team had a tough start to the season, losing 2 of their first three matches, but the emphatic 3-0 win in the Manchester derby might just have been what they needed to turn things around ahead of their opening CL match at home against Napoli.
Next up, Bayern Munich won the tournament back in 2020, which was the last of their 6 titles in the tournament, and they’ll be aiming to add to that this season. They are at 7.60 to reach the final, and understandably favourites to become the best German club in the league phase (1.50) ahead of Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund (both at 5.60).
Chelsea are keen to follow up their success in the CWC and last season’s ECL with another win in this tournament, which they’ve won a total of two times, in 2012 and 2021. The London club face Bayern Munich away in their tournament opener, so they’re definitely not off to an easy start. The Blues are 6.60 to become the top English team in the league phase, understandably behind Liverpool, Arsenal and Man City, but ahead of Spurs and Newcastle.
Inter made it all the way to the final in last season’s tournament, but PSG were simply too strong in the final beating the Italians 5-0 in Munich. The Italians are at 21.00 to win the league phase, but they’re also favourites to become the best Italian team in the league phase at 2.75.
Looking at the top 10 favourites, Napoli and Spurs would probably be the only really big upset at the end of the campaign, but Conte seems to be enjoying life in Naples and McTominay, Kevin De Bruyne and Rasmus Hojlund have had a very good start to their season. They are currently at 3.00 to finish in the top 8 of the group phase and 1.53 to finish in between 9th and 24th, securing a playoff spot.
Reigning EL champions Spurs are looking to go one step further under the guidance of their new manager Thomas Frank. The English side host Villarreal in their opener, and will be hoping to get off to a winning start. The London club are at 1.50 to finish in the 9.-24. bracket, and 10.00 to become the best English team in the league phase.
There’s plenty of action to look forward to in the CL this season, with one of these teams looking like the likely winner. However, there are a few dark horses around as well, so let’s take a look at some of the teams hoping to stir things up in this year’s edition of the tournament!
The Dark Horses
Behind the top 11 favourites, there are plenty of teams looking to cause an upset, much like Porto did when they won the tournament back in 2004. Here are the 5 favourite teams behind the aforementioned top 10:
Atlético Madrid – 35.00
Newcastle – 40.00
Juventus – 40.00
Atalanta – 50.00
Atlético Madrid have struggled so far this season, only managing 1 win in their first 4 league matches. Their opening match is away at Liverpool, and Simeone would probably want an easier start to their CL campaign than a trip to the English champions. Atlético are at 7.00 to become the top Spanish side in the league phase, and 1.53 to finish in the 9.-24. bracket.
Newcastle have had a busy summer and now they’re ready to take on the very best teams in the CL, with Barcelona coming for a visit on their opening day of the league phase. They are 1.50 to end up in the playoff positions and 40.00 to end up league phase winner. They’re not expected to join the top 8, but they’ll definitely hope to upset some of the bigger teams in the tournament and progress to the later stages.
Lastly, Juventus and Atalanta are both ready to represent Italy in the CL, and they are currently at 4.00 and 5.40 to become the top Italian team in the league phase, respectively. The 2023/24 EL winners Atalanta have lost their manager Gasparini to Roma, but they’ll be hoping to spring a few surprises in this year’s edition of the CL. Juventus have won the tournament twice before, but they’ve also lost the final on 7 occasions, and Juventus to reach the final is currently at 17.00.
No chance?
Every team in the tournament obviously have a theoretical chance at winning it, but there are definitely a few clubs that aren’t expected to do much damage to their opponents in this year’s edition. Here are the 3 teams most likely to end up last in the league phase according to our odds:
Kairat – 2.40
Qarabag – 4.50
Slavia Prague – 10.00
With plenty of action to look forward to, we’re excited for the new CL campaign, and in addition to the aforementioned odds, you can find more CL outrights and match odds ahead of the tournament start right here.
Please note that the odds might have changed since the writing and/or publication of this article.
Last updated: 16.09.25
