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Preview: Champions League & Europa League Takes Centre Stage

Preview: Champions League & Europa League Takes Centre Stage

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Preview: Champions League & Europa League Takes Centre Stage

The eyes of the football world will be in Europe during August as the Champions League and Europa League finally get back underway.

Both competitions still have a round of 16 ties to be completed, before each embarks on a straight knockout format from the quarter-finals onwards.

Portugal will host the Champions League from that point, while the remainder of the Europa League will be played in Germany.

Read on as we take a closer look at some of the teams who hold a genuine chance of success in the Champions League and Europa League.

Bayern Could be Tough to Beat

Bayern Munich is joint favorites with Manchester City to win the Champions League and there will be plenty of punters using the BetMGM bonus code to back them to succeed.

The reigning Bundesliga champions hold a three-goal lead over Chelsea in their round of 16 ties and should comfortably progress to the last eight.

Things get tougher thereafter, with Barcelona expected to be their opponents if they can overcome Napoli in their quarter-final match-up.

City or Juventus would most likely be next on the agenda, but the one-off nature of the games could well play into Bayern's hands.

City Eager to Prove a Point

The city will undoubtedly be fired up to win the Champions League after successfully appealing UEFA's decision to ban them from the next two tournaments.

Pep Guardiola's side beat Real Madrid 2-1 in their first meeting and they are fancied to complete the job back on home soil.

However, they would be well-advised not to underestimate the huge threat posed by the newly-crowned La Liga champions.

Madrid ended the domestic campaign in great form, but City should have enough about them to book their place in the next round.

Juve on a Mission

The Champions League has become something of an obsession for Juve, with the Italian giants failing to win the competition since 1996.

They must overcome a 1-0 deficit against Lyon to qualify for the quarter-finals, but it would be a major shock if they didn't make it through.

The best sportsbooks are offering odds of around 16/1 on Juve to lift the trophy and that could represent excellent value.

Cristiano Ronaldo will be keen to win the competition again before the end of his career and the Serie A champions could easily bely their current price.

Spanish Team are a Dangerous Proposition

Another team that could benefit massively from the revised format of the Champions League is Atletico Madrid.

Diego Simeone's side is famed for their ability to grind out results and it would be no surprise to see them progress to the final.

Atletico should beat RB Leipzig in the quarter-finals, while Atalanta or Paris Saint-Germain would hold no fears for them in the last four.

Having been handed such a favorable route to the final, the La Liga side is an outstanding each-way bet at odds of around 9/1.

United Look Good in the Europa League

Manchester United have been in fine form this year and are favorites to end the campaign by winning the Europa League.

They lead LASK 5-0 in their round of 16 ties and are fully expected to complete the job to book a meeting with either İstanbul Basaksehir or FC Copenhagen.

Neither of those two teams should trouble United, but things get tougher thereafter with Wolverhampton Wanderers, Sevilla, or Roma their most likely semi-final opponents.

Regardless of who they face, United would rightly fancy their chances of reaching the final and it would be a brave move to back against them going on to lift the trophy.

Inter or Leverkusen Await in the Final

The two standout teams in the other half of the draw are Inter Milan and Bayer Leverkusen, although Shakhtar Donetsk could also prove to be troublesome.

Inter and Leverkusen are on course to meet in the quarter-finals and the winners of that tie would be favorites to reach the final.

However, it would be foolish to write off Shakhtar, with the Ukrainian outfit 2-1 ahead of Wolfsburg in their round of 16 ties.

They would be likely to meet Basel in the next round and possess enough quality to comfortably see off the Swiss side.

Atletico Too Good to Ignore

The draw hasn't been kind to the big guns in the Champions League, handing each of them a difficult route to the final.

Bayern and City are worthy favorites, but neither of them represents good value given some of the hurdles they will have to overcome.

With that in mind, Atletico is the sensible each-way choice at odds of 9/1 and is fully expected to give punters a good run for their money.

United are strongly fancied to win the Europa League, although odds of 2/1 are now a little on the short side given some of the teams still left in the competition.

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