The big winners and losers following the Champions League draw according to the odds-makers
The draw for the quarter and semi-finals of the Champions League was made this morning at Uefa’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
Manchester City have moved back to favourites to win the competition at 11/4, an implied chance of 26% by the bookmakers, while Bayern’s price of 16/5 make them second-favourites.
Should Pep Guardiola’s side complete the job against Real Madrid (30/1 shots to win the competition) on August 7, when Los Blancos come to visit the Etihad in the second leg of their last-16 bout - a tie City lead 2-1 after the first leg in Spain - they will face the winner of Lyon v Juventus in the quarter-finals.
Juve fell to a 1-0 defeat in the first leg of that last-16 tie against the Frenchmen, but will feel confident in their ability to overturn that deficit with seasoned Champions League star Cristiano Ronaldo desperate to face either his ex-employers, or the bitter rivals of his former club in the next round.
The Italian’s could be viewed as the biggest losers after this morning's draw, however, with a huge task ahead of them should they manage to beat their counterparts from Ligue 1. That has been reflected in their outright odds of 16/1, while Lyon are rank outsiders at 100/1.
Paris Saint-Germain are perhaps the biggest winners out of the draw, as the French champions have drawn Atalanta in next month’s quarter-finals.
While the Serie A free-scorers are certainly not to be underestimated, they are probably the weakest side left in the competition, and a team that Thomas Tuchel will feel confident that his star-studded outfit can overcome to book their spot in the semi-finals.
The Parisians have seen their price to be crowned Champions League winners slashed from 11/1 to 9/2 with Paddy Power, while Atalanta are a somewhat surprisingly short 12/1 to obtain the trophy.
Atletico Madrid (9/1) will battle it out with Julian Nagelsann’s RB Leipzig (14/1) for a place in the semi-finals, in a game which the Spaniards will be heavily backed given their track record in the Champions League and the fact they dumped out reigning champions Liverpool in the previous round.
Bayern Munich look as good as qualified thanks to carrying a three-goal lead into their unfinished last-16 tie against 250/1 shots Chelsea, and the Bavarian outfit will face either Napoli or Barcelona in the quarter’s if they do complete the job at the Allianz Arena.
That game currently sits at 1-1 with the return leg at the Nou Camp taking place on August 7, with Barca 8/13-favourites to prevail and priced at 8/1 to win the competition for the first time since 2015. Napoli, meanwhile, are huge 66/1 shots to claim their first ever Champions League title.
