History makes German Champions League winner hard to fancy
Published:One of the big statistics of the Champions League era is that no team has been able to defend the trophy, but it is less known that the same nation has been unable to provide consecutive winners in the same period.
Not only is this bad news for tournament favourites Bayern Munich at 10/3, but also for the likes of Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen.
Therefore, it may also make sense to oppose the 5/2 offered in the Champions League betting for any German winner.
In the competition’s old guise as the European Cup, AC Milan were the last team to make a successful defence in 1990, with 1982 the last time that different teams from the same nation triumphed when Aston Villa followed up on Liverpool’s success in the season previous.
Although an all-German final may be hard to fancy based on this statistic, two Spanish finalists or two English finalists could occur.
Since 1999, there have been four instances of two teams from the same nation playing out the Champions League final, but interestingly Spain, Italy, England and Germany have all been responsible for one each.
An all-Spanish final is priced at 5/1 this time and never previously have Barcelona faced Real Madrid in the final of this competition. Atletico Madrid should not be totally written off either with their start to the season suggesting they will cope just fine without Radamel Falcao.
The price for an all-English final is 8/1, with 6/4 on offer that all four Premier League teams reach the knock-out rounds.
Chelsea should have little trouble getting through their group, Arsenal have made it beyond the group stages in 13 straight years and Manchester City have their best chance in three seasons to get out of their group.
Therefore, Manchester United may prove the biggest risk to this bet landing.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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