The UEFA Champions League has started and it’s about time where predictions could be made on who’s going to win the league with many top teams vying for the winners’ medal.
Champions League football is back after a gap of five months. It kickstarted on 8th August with the second leg of Round of 16 fixtures between Juventus & Lyon and Manchester City & Real Madrid. Juventus and Manchester City won their games but Juventus crashed out of the tournament on away goals and City progressed. The second matchday of the resumed Champions League saw Barcelona and Bayern winning comfortably against Napoli and Chelsea respectively. So, now we have just eight teams remaining in the tournament.
The remainder of the Champions League football will be one-legged and will be played in Portugal. So, let’s check out what’s going to happen in the Champions League over the next three weeks.
Champions League winner prediction:
The next four games of the quarter-finals will be one-legged and will be concluded in four days. Here are the four quarter-final fixtures:
August 13: Atalanta vs Paris Saint-Germain
August 14: RB Leipzig vs Atletico Madrid
August 15: FC Barcelona vs Bayern Munich
August 16: Manchester City vs Olympique Lyon
The winners of the first two games will face in the first semi-finals and the winners of the next two games will face in the second semi-finals. The winner of the semi-finals will play the final on August 24 at Estadio da Luz, Lisbon.
Atalanta have been in red hot form this season and finished third in Serie A with 78 points. They also scored a whopping 98 goals in Serie A. PSG have crowned champions of France as the league was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. After football’s resumption, they won the Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue after beating Saint-Etienne and Lyon respectively. While PSG will miss Mbappe and Verratti in the QFs, they still have a great team on paper. Atalanta’s star striker Ilicic is also doubtful due to physical discomfort. Considering, PSG’s immense firepower, we predict a win for PSG in this fixture.
RB Leipzig had another great Bundesliga campaign but they could have done better. They face Atletico Madrid in the QFs of the Champions League. Leipzig will be without their star striker Timo Werner, who joined Chelsea. SO, we predict a win for Atletico Madrid.
FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich face each other on 15th August in the QFs of the Champions League. FC Barcelona have been very poor since football’s restart. They lost nine points in the remaining 11 games since La Liga’s resumption and lost the title to Real Madrid. They have a good record at home but they have been awful in away stadiums. Bayern Munich have been in red hot form this season. They ended the Round of 16 with an aggregate score of 7-1 against Chelsea. Various betting site have favoured Bayern to lift the title. So, we predict a win for Bayern. But when you play against Messi, you never know.
Manchester City faces Lyon in the last Quarterfinal game. Lyon were lucky to sneak past Juventus due to a dodgy decision. Many betting sites are favouring Manchester City to lift the title. This game should be an easy win for Pep Guardiola.
If our predictions are to be true, PSG will face Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich will face Manchester City in the semis. Considering PSG’s past Champions League campaigns, Atletico Madrid have a good chance of qualifying for the final. PSG will be without their star forward Mbappe and midfielder Verratti. Atletico are a top defensive side and they are deadly in knockout stages.
It’s very hard to predict who will win between Bayern Munich and Manchester City. Bayern were crowned Bundesliga champions in June and they have a lot of time to prepare for the Champions League. Players are rested and will be extra motivated for the tie. Manchester City, on the other side, haven’t had proper rest and some players may suffer from fatigue due to a high-intensity semi-final. We feel that it will be Atletico Madrid vs Bayern Munich in the final at Estadio da Luz. As all betting sites favour, we feel that Bayern Munich are set to win their second treble, equaling Barcelona.
We predict that Bayern should lift the Champions League trophy in Lisbon. However, there’s a good chance for Atletico as well. With the majority of the betting sites giving the Bavarians a clear advantage. The final may be a lot closer than the oddsmakers are suggesting and Bayern would have hoped for though.
