Last season, it was Manchester City that claimed the Champions League for the first time. A 1-0 win over Inter Milan being enough to give the Citizens the treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League.
Many had predicted a tough year for Pep Guardiola’s team after signing Erling Haaland. They reckoned Haaland would be tough to integrate into the team. Conversely, the opposite proved true as City claimed the Treble and Haaland smashed several EPL goalscoring records.
And soon, they will begin the defence of their Champions League title against the best that the rest of Europe has to offer.
Bet365 Sport will be offering plenty of great betting across the 2023/24 Champions League. Additionally, you can find intriguing Outright betting on the tournament already (more on that later!).
Champions League 2023/24 – Preview
Let’s start our look at the 2023/24 Champions League by looking at the teams that have made it through to the competition. Starting with those that began in the qualifying stages back in late June.
Champions League 2023/24 – Qualifiers
Champions Path
Preliminary Round – 4 teams (one legged semi final & final) – 1 team progresses
- Buducnost Podgorica (Montenegro)
- Breidablik (Iceland)
- Tre Penne (San Marino)
- Atletic Club d’Escaldes (Andorra)
The teams play a single-legged semi-final, followed by one final.
The winner of the final moves into the First Qualifying Round.
The three other teams enter the Europa Conference League at the second or third qualifying round.
First Qualifying Round – 30 teams (29 seeded, 1 winner from Preliminary Round).
The 29 seeded teams in the First Qualifying Round of the Champions League are:
- Ferencvaros (Hungary)
- Qarabag (Azerbaijan)
- Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia)
- Ludogorets Razgrad (Bulgaria)
- Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova)
- BATE Borisov (Belarus)
- Astana (Kazakhstan)
- Maccabi Haifa (Israel)
- Zalgiris (Lithuania)
- HJK Helsinki (Finland)
- Flora Tallinn (Estonia)
- Shamrock Rovers (Ireland)
- The New Saints (Wales)
- Olimpija Ljublijana (Slovenia)
- Zrinjski Mostar (Bosnia – Herzegovina)
- Lincoln Red Imps (Gibraltar)
- KI (Faroe Islands)
- Dinamo Tblisi (Georgia)
- Rakow Czestochowa (Poland)
- Partizan Tirana (Albania)
- BK Hacken (Sweden)
- Farul Constanta (Romania)
- Valmiera (Latvia)
- Ballkani (Kosovo)
- Larne (Northern Ireland)
- Urartu (Armenia)
- Hamrun Spartans (Malta)
- Swift Hesperange (Luxembourg)
- Struga (North Macedonia)
The 29 seeded teams plus the winning team from the Preliminary Round will play off over two legs in 15 ties.
The 15 winners of those ties move into the Second Qualifying Round.
The 15 losers of those ties enter the Europa Conference League second or third qualifying round.
Second Qualifying Round – 20 teams (5 seeded, plus 15 winners from First Qualifying Round)
The five seeded teams in this round of the draw are:
- Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
- FC Copenhagen (Denmark)
- Galatasaray (Turkey)
- Molde (Norway)
- Aris Limassol (Cyprus)
They and the 15 winners of the First Qualifying Round are drawn into 10 Second Qualifying Round games, each to be contested over two legs.
The 10 winners of those games move into the Third Qualifying Round.
However, the 10 losers of those games enter the Europa League Third Qualifying Round.
Third Qualifying Round – 12 teams (2 seeded, plus 10 winners of Second Qualifying Round)
The two seeded teams for this section of the draw are:
- Sparta Prague (Czechia)
- AEK Athens (Greece)
The two seeds and 10 winners of the Second Qualifying Round are drawn into six Third Qualifying Round matches. Each will be played over two legs.
Each of the six winners of the games advance to the Playoff Round.
But the six losers enter the Europa League Playoff Round.
Playoff Round – 8 teams (2 seeded, plus 6 winners from Third Qualifying Round).
The two seeded teams in the Playoff Round are:
- Young Boys (Switzerland)
- Royal Antwerp (Belgium)
The two seeds and six winners from the Third Qualifying Round are drawn into four Playoff two-legged ties.
Subsequently, the four winners of those four ties qualify for the Champions League Group Stages.
Conversely, the four losers of those four ties qualify for the Europa League Group Stages.
League Path
Second Qualifying Round – 4 teams
The four teams that will contest the 2nd qualifying round two-legged ties are:
- Genk (Belgium)
- Dnipro-1 (Ukraine)
- Servette (Switzerland)
- Panathinaikos (Greece)
The two winners move on to the 3rd Qualifying Round (below)
But the two losers enter the Europa League at the Main Path 3rd Qualifying Round.
Third Qualifying Round – 8 teams (6 seeded plus two winners from Second Qualifying Round)
The 6 teams seeded into this round were:
- Rangers (Scotland)
- Braga (Portugal)
- PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
- Marseille (France)
- Sturm Graz (Austria)
- TSC (Serbia)
The six seeds plus the two winners from the 2nd Qualifying Round are drawn against each other and play a two-legged tie.
Furthermore, The winner of the two-legged ties move into the League Path Playoff Round
The four losers of the Third Qualifying Round enter the Europa League Group Stages.
Playoff Round – 4 teams (all winners of Third Qualifying Round)
The four winners are drawn into a couple of two-legged playoff ties.
The two winners of the playoff ties qualify for the Champions League Group Stages.
Additionally, the two losers of the Playoff Round qualify for the Europa League Group Stages.
Champions League 2023/24 Group Stage Qualifiers
A total of 26 teams have qualified for the Champions League 2023/24 Group Stages, with six teams to join them from the qualifiers outlined above.
The 26 teams that are seeded into the Group Stage of the tournament are:
- Manchester City (England)
- Sevilla (Spain)
- Arsenal (England)
- Manchester United (England)
- Newcastle United (England)
- Barcelona (Spain)
- Real Madrid (Spain)
- Atletico Madrid (Spain)
- Real Sociedad (Spain)
- Napoli (Italy)
- Lazio (Italy)
- Inter Milan (Italy)
- AC Milan (Italy)
- Bayern Munich (Germany)
- Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
- Red Bull Leipzig (Germany)
- Union Berlin (Germany)
- Paris St Germain (France)
- Lens (France)
- Benfica (Portugal)
- FC Porto (Portugal)
- Feyenoord (Netherlands)
- Red Bull Salzburg (Austria)
- Celtic (Scotland)
- Red Star Belgrade (Serbia)
- Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)
The draw for the Group Stages of the Champions League will be held on 31st August.
Latest Champions League 2023/24 Outright Betting with Bet365 Sport
Currently, bet365 Sport is offering the latest odds on teams to win the Champions League.
- 2/1 favourites – Manchester City
- 7/1 – Bayern Munich
- 9/1 – Real Madrid
- 10/1 – Paris St Germain
- 12/1 – Barcelona
- 14/1 – Arsenal, Manchester United
- 16/1 – Napoli
- 20/1 – Newcastle United
- 25/1 – Borussia Dortmund
- 33/1 – Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan
- 40/1 – AC Milan, Benfica, RB Leipzig
- 50/1 – Lazio
- 66/1 – FC Porto, Real Sociedad, Sevilla
- 80/1 – Union Berlin
- 100/1 – Feyenoord, Lens
- 150/1 bar
Given their performances last season, it is not difficult to see why Manchester City are the clear favourites to win the trophy again and it is hard not to back them again this season.
But for a solid each way bet, Benfica at 40/1 are a much better team than those odds suggest, while Napoli (16/1) will be a more experienced side at this level in the coming season too.
*All odds shown were correct at time of writing but may have changed in the meantime.