The Champions League is the most prestigious tournament for European football clubs. Simply known as the Champions League, it is one of the most watched television events in the world drawing as much as 145 million television viewers in the final match alone.
The Champions League is organized by the Union of European Football Associations and was established in 1955.
Initially called the European Champion Clubs Cup or the European Cup, the tournament was just a straight knockout competition open only to the champion club of each country.
Today, the Champions League is composed of numerous stages. The number of teams that each association enters into the tournament is based upon the coefficients of the member associations.
The first stages are Qualifying Rounds, but the tournament proper or Main Competition begins in the Group Stage where 32 teams are divided into eight groups with four teams each. Each team meets the others in its group in a home and away round-robin format.
After the Group Stage, the Knockout Stages (Round of 16, Quarter-finals and Semi-finals) ensue where teams play against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis.
In the draw for the round of 16, the eight group winners are seeded, and the eight group runners-up are unseeded. A seeded team will be drawn against an unseeded team, with the seeded team hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group or the same association cannot be drawn against each other.
In the draws for the quarter-finals onwards, there are no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association may be drawn with each other.
The one-match final is then contested by the last two remaining teams.
With premier teams playing a lot of important matches, truly the Champions League offers a lot of options for both novice and seasoned football bettors.
Outright Winner
One of the most common bets on the Champions League is betting on the outright winner for a given season. Sportsbooks list down all the competing clubs, with their corresponding odds, and all you have to do is choose which one will win the final.
Fixtures or Matchups
Betting on individual fixtures or matchups is arguably the most common bet that football fans look for in the Champions League. You simply have to choose which of the two teams will win the match or if the match will end in a draw or tie.
Fixtures or matchups odds usually look like:
| Home | Draw | Away | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ajax v Lyon | 13/10 | 12/5 | 21/10 |
If you are betting on Ajax at 13/10, you are risking €10.00 to win €13.00. If Ajax wins, you get your €10.00 wager plus your €13.00 winnings for a total payout of €23.00.
Meanwhile, if you are betting on Lyon at 21/10, you are risking €10.00 to win €21.00. If Lyon wins, you get your €10.00 wager plus your €21.00 winnings for a total payout of €31.00.
But if you are betting on the Draw at 12/5, you are risking €10.00 to win €24.00. If the match ends in a Draw, you get your €10.00 wager plus your €24.00 winnings for a total payout of €34.00.
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Totals
Betting on totals for Champions League matches is another popular wager to consider. Its very easy since all you have to do is predict whether or not the total score of a given match will go over or stay under a specified total.
Champions League Totals Odds usually look like:
| Over 2.5 1/4 | Under 2.5 4/1 |
If you are betting on Over 2.5 at 1/4, you are risking €10.00 to win €40.00. If the total score at the end of the match is three or more, you win the bet. You get your €10.00 wager plus your €40.00 winnings for a total payout of €50.00.
If you are betting on Under 2.5 at 4/1, you are risking €40.00 to win €10.00. If the total score at the end of the match is two or lower, you win the bet. You get your €40.00 wager plus your €10.00 winnings for a total payout of €50.00.
Props
Props or Propositions Bets on Champions League matches also abound. Proposition bets usually include predicting the Correct Score of a match, how many goals a team will score by half-time, how many goals a player will score and how many penalty kicks will be taken during the match.
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