Another season of the UEFA Champions League is upon us, one that increases the likelihood of surprises even in a period of dominance for some of Europe’s best teams and players.
While a high-profile group of players are expected to compete for individual and team trophies in the continent’s top club competition, a period of dominance begins for Real Madrid and Manchester City perhaps not enough to keep a handful of teams at bay. A strong start to the season for the likes of Barcelona, Arsenal and Liverpool makes them realistic contenders for the Champions League title, creating a new collection of top teams that could provide just as much intrigue as the new format.
The early storylines of the 2024-2025 season also led to a varied list of predictions from the CBS Sports team, which expects that a long list of teams could provide drama as the countdown begins to next spring’s final at the Allianz Arena in Munich, which will mark an entertaining season for has the bow.
Before the league stage action starts on Tuesday, here are a series of predictions to kick off a new Champions League season.
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Here are our expert picks for this match day:
Expert choices
Winners: If the betting markets are to be believed, this season’s Champions League should be a two-horse race between the last two winners. That makes sense. Holders Real Madrid have added one of the best players in the Champions League with Kylian Mbappé. Manchester City remain as good as they were. However, there are a few in the chasing pack that make for compelling contenders. Arsenal and Liverpool appear to be exceptionally good teams, while Bayern Munich have all the talent they need. What about Barcelona? Last season in the league they showed similar advanced statistics to Madrid and have started this campaign in explosive fashion. Stay fit and they might become the champions. –James Benge
Biggest surprise: Atalanta shouldn’t be much of a surprise after winning the Europa League last season, but losing Gianluca Scamacca to injury and Teun Koopmeiners to Juventus, this team has potential. New pieces like Mateo Retegui are gelling well and Ademola Lookman is still at the club, but this is all down to the leadership of Gian Piero Gasperini. Atalanta will know what they need to do to get the results they need and it will be enough to reach the knockout stages of the UCL. — Chuck Booth
Biggest disappointment: The big expectation is that by simply adding Kylian Mbappe to their ranks, Real Madrid will make the Spanish giants even stronger and increase the chances of them successfully defending their UCL title. However, as their form at the start of the season has shown, it is not that simple: it will take some time for this team to thrive under Carlo Ancelotti. Injuries and unavailability haven’t helped, but getting the likes of Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham to function and co-exist effectively will remain a challenge for the Italian master tactician in the coming weeks and months. This year’s Champions League could be too early to expect Los Blancos to triumph on the continental stage. — Jonathan Johnson
Top scorer: This season’s competition is likely to feature some of the game’s best strikers battling it out for the top scorer award, but Manchester City’s Erling Haaland is good enough to beat them all. His unvarnished ability to find the back of the net is his signature after two Golden Boot-winning seasons in England, and he has already built up quite a lead in his third Premier League season – scoring nine goals in four games, six more than the next. nearest player. He has the advantage of a summer of rest compared to most others, making him the most reasonable candidate to top the Champions League goalscoring chart by the end of the season. — Pardeep Cattry
Top player: After moving from PSG to Real Madrid as a free agent in the summer of 2024, all expectations are on Real Madrid and Kylian Mbappé, who have struggled in the first matches played so far. However, there are many reasons to think that he will be the MVP of the season, as he only adds more experience and winning mentality to a side that is not struggling in this sense, after winning two Champions League titles in the last three year. Mbappé wants to make history at Real Madrid and that means winning the Champions League again. –Francesco Porzio