{"id":49028,"date":"2026-09-15T20:20:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T02:20:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gambyl.com\/?p=49028"},"modified":"2026-09-15T20:21:31","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T02:21:31","slug":"champions-league-new-season-new-favorites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gambyl.com\/en\/uefa-champions-league\/champions-league-new-season-new-favorites\/","title":{"rendered":"Champions League: New Season, New Favorites"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Paris Saint-Germain have won the last two Champions Leagues. They opened this one by beating Slovan Bratislava 6-1<\/strong>.

They are not the favourites.

Barcelona are, at 5\/1<\/strong>, with PSG and Arsenal level behind them at 11\/2<\/strong> and Real Madrid and Bayern Munich at 6\/1<\/strong>. A club chasing a third consecutive European Cup is being priced as the third-best team in the competition.

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Here is where the competition stands after one matchday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Market<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Barcelona \u2014 5\/1Paris Saint-Germain \u2014 11\/2Arsenal \u2014 11\/2Real Madrid \u2014 6\/1Bayern Munich \u2014 6\/1<\/strong>

Prediction markets tell a similar story: Arsenal and Barcelona sit as co-favourites at roughly 20%<\/strong>, with the two-time holders at 17%<\/strong>.

That gap is the story of the season so far<\/strong>, and it exists for a reason that has nothing to do with PSG getting worse. Barcelona and Arsenal have both been building toward this, and the market has decided the champions are beatable before anyone has beaten them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matchday 1: The Champions Answered<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Whatever the odds say, the opening round was a poor advertisement for doubting Paris.

PSG 6-1 Slovan Bratislava<\/strong> was the largest win of the matchday. Barcelona 5-1 Feyenoord<\/strong> and Bayern 5-0 Bod\u00f8\/Glimt<\/strong> were nearly as emphatic.

The heavyweight tie went to Madrid.Real Madrid 2-1 Inter<\/strong> was the fixture the draw produced and the one everybody circled, and Madrid took it at home.

Arsenal did the hardest thing.<\/strong> A 1-0 win at Napoli<\/strong> is the least spectacular result on this page and arguably the most impressive \u2014 a clean sheet in a genuinely difficult away ground, from a side the market rates as co-favourite.

Elsewhere: Liverpool 2-1 Atl\u00e9tico de Madrid<\/strong>, Manchester City 2-0 at Porto<\/strong>, Borussia Dortmund 3-2 Villarreal<\/strong>, and Aston Villa winning 3-2 at Club Brugge<\/strong> in the best game of the Tuesday slate.

Manchester United returned to the competition and won 4-0 against Sabah<\/strong>, which will feel considerably better than losing 2-0 at Hull City on the opening weekend of the Premier League.

And the result of the round came from Como<\/strong>, who beat Leipzig 4-1<\/strong>. An Italian side making its way in this competition putting four past a Bundesliga club is exactly what the expanded format was supposed to produce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Case for Barcelona<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

They scored five in the opener and they have the profile the modern competition rewards: a settled system, depth across the front line, and a squad that has spent two seasons learning how to control matches rather than simply win them.

The 5\/1 price reflects consistency as much as ceiling.<\/strong> In a 36-team league phase where eight matches determine seeding, the sides that avoid bad nights against mid-tier opposition are the ones who arrive in the knockout rounds with a favourable bracket. Barcelona have been reliable in exactly that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Case Against Them \u2014 and It Is PSG<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Winning this competition once is difficult. Winning it twice consecutively is rare. Winning it three times in a row has not been done since the European Cup became the Champions League.<\/strong>

That is the argument for the 11\/2, and it is a historical argument rather than a football one. Nothing about the opening round suggested Paris have declined \u2014 a 6-1 win is a 6-1 win.

The fixture that will settle it is already on the calendar.<\/strong> The draw handed us Barcelona vs PSG<\/strong> in the league phase, and that match will do more to move this market than anything else between now and January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal at 11\/2 Is the Interesting Price<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Of the five clubs at the top of the board, Arsenal are the one whose opening result looked least like a statement and most like a contender.

A 1-0 win at Napoli<\/strong> is the sort of away performance that used to be missing from Arsenal teams in this competition. They also enter having started the Premier League season perfectly, and the draw has given them Bayern Munich<\/strong> among their eight opponents \u2014 a fixture that will tell us whether the price is right.

11\/2 on a side with that defensive record, in a format that rewards not losing<\/strong>, is the most defensible position on the board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Format Is Doing Its Job<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Thirty-six clubs. Eight matches each. Three full days of fixtures<\/strong> \u2014 Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday \u2014 rather than the two the competition ran on for decades.

The league phase runs until Wednesday 27 January 2027<\/strong>, and the draw in Monaco on 27 August produced a genuinely difficult set of assignments for the elite: Barcelona vs PSG<\/strong>, Real Madrid vs Inter<\/strong>, Arsenal vs Bayern<\/strong> and Manchester City vs Barcelona<\/strong> all fall inside the opening stage.

Under the old group format, those fixtures were reserved for the quarter-finals. Now they arrive in autumn, and they count toward seeding rather than survival.

The other effect is at the other end.<\/strong> Como beating Leipzig 4-1, Aston Villa winning at Club Brugge, Real Betis taking three points at Lille \u2014 the expansion has produced more clubs with a genuine route into the competition, and more of them are taking it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What to Watch Before October<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Matchday 2 is not until 13-14 October.<\/strong> That is a five-week gap, and it means one round of results has to carry the narrative through an international break and a month of domestic football.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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